THE graves of ten North-East war heroes which faced being bulldozed to make way for a £3.5bn French airport look to have been saved.

The remains of the soldiers, who died on the Somme during the First World War, were at risk under the French government's plans to build the country's third airport.

More than 1,000 UK and Commonwealth graves in the Chaulnes area, 80 miles north of Paris, were in danger because they fell within the 10,000-hectare site.

But the change of government in France means that the proposal has been shelved, and Transport Minister Gilles de Robien has called for the plans to be reconsidered.

So far, ten soldiers from the North-East have been identified as buried in cemeteries within the proposed airport site, all of whom died fighting with the Durham Light Infantry and the Northumberland Fusiliers.

The soldiers fell resisting a German offensive into France, in March 1918.

The news of a reprieve has been hailed as an important step forward in securing the final resting places of the soldiers.

Those connected with the dli Museum, in Durham, and the Fusiliers Museum of Northumberland, in Alnwick, are delighted.

Steve Shannon, curator of the dli Museum, said: "It is wonderful news.

"I know that an enormous number of people from County Durham go over to the First World War battlefields looking for lost relatives.

"It would be very distressing for them if they found their loved ones had been moved."