A LASTING legacy to North-East novelist Catherine Cookson will provide light relief for patients and visitors at a hospital in the region.

The Catherine Cookson Memorial Garden was opened within the grounds of South Tyneside District Hospital, in South Shields, yesterday.

It is seen as a fitting tribute to the best-selling author, who died in June 1998, as she worked during her youth at the Harton Workhouse, which was on part of the hospital site.

Developed through this year, it has been designed to offer a tranquil haven for the benefit of all hospital users.

Elizabeth Tate, senior lecturer in sculpture at Sunderland University, was commissioned to draw up the design for the distinctive garden.

The result is a 40-metre long stream between two stone-walled pools, representing a staff, with semi-circular beds ranged alternately on either side to represent a serpent.

Herbs planted in the beds create a visual and scented ambience, and are used in both the hospital kitchens and restaurant.

Overlooked by in-patient wards, it is fully accessible to the public, with ramps for disabled people.

The garden was opened by Dr Hugo Marshall, chairman of the Catherine Cookson Charitable Trust, which donated £10,000 towards the cost.

Dr Marshall was Catherine Cookson's own family doctor for many years and a personal friend of the family.

Other groups involved in the development were Groundwork Trust South Tyneside, which provided the workforce, South Tyneside Borough Council, South Tyneside Health Care Trust, and the Royal Mail community action team.

Stephen Foster, a director of the health care trust, said: "It not only enhances the patient environment of the hospital, but is a fitting contribution towards a prestigious memorial to Tyneside's most famous author.