A country road shortcut that has been disrupted for a year following a landslip is due to reopen.

Durham County Council highways officials hope the first vehicles will use the C12a at Cocken Bank next week following £200,000 worth of engineering works.

The extremely wet autumn and winter of 1999 resulted in a severe landslip on a steep embankment supporting the road, which overlooks Finchale Priory, near Durham.

The narrow, winding road, which links the A690 with the A167, is an unofficial bypass at peak periods for motorists wanting to avoid congestion in the city centre.

After the landslip in January of last year, part of the road was coned-off and traffic lights installed, restricting traffic flow to a single lane, while engineers drew up a complex scheme to stop the road slipping 30 metres down a steep drop into the River Wear.

The road has been closed entirely since last summer and lengthy diversions put in place while the work was carried out.

Additional problems during the work added to the cost and duration of the scheme.

"We apologise for the length of time it has taken to carry out the remedial work and for any inconvenience which it has caused but it has been an exceptionally complex project," said highways manager Roger Elphick.

"We have had to excavate most of the road down to a four-metre depth and then drive in piles for a further four metres until we hit a rock foundation before we could start building up the embankment and the road again."

Only the final resurfacing is left to complete and, weather permitting, the road is due to open some time next week.

Signs will be put up at either end of the road telling drivers that they can use it.