A WOODLAND regeneration scheme is to begin on a roadside embankment.

Easington District Council will clear a large group of trees growing on the embankment near Dalden Tower next month.

As a result, the road through Dalton-le-Dale will be closed from Monday until Friday, from 9am to 4pm.

The Forestry Commission has agreed to the plans and a felling licence was granted on the grounds that the group of trees, comprising mainly elms infected with Dutch elm disease, needed to be removed for safety reasons.

The council now intends to form a partnership with the English Nature team at Castle Eden Dene to grow trees from seeds collected by schoolchildren from the local woodlands.

They will then be planted on the site to Forestry Commission specifications, should its natural regeneration be insufficient.

It is hoped that, eventually, ash woodland common to the coastal dene area can be recreated.