GRAVE forecasts that Wear Valley's workforce is declining, leaving a growing retired population, has led to a call for action to reverse the trend.

Wear Valley's workforce is expected to decline at an alarming rate over the next few years as younger people move out the area in search of jobs, leaving fewer children being born and an increasingly ageing population.

The worrying trend was illustrated in a report by Durham County Council, which identifies Wear Valley as suffering a population decline within the next 20 years, while populations grow in other districts in the county.

All districts are predicted to have a growing population of retired people, which is mirrored across northern Europe, and by 2035 a quarter of the county's population will be retired.

In a report to the regeneration committee, director of regeneration Bob Hope warns this could result in the workforce being saddled with huge taxes to support society.

He says: "These longer-term changes are so profound, particularly with regard to the elderly population, that major governmental agencies involved should be formulating policies now to accommodate for this demographic shift, if an undue tax burden is not to be imposed on future generations."

The report coincides with another released by the Public Health Observatory unit, in which academics warn that unless Government action is taken to regenerate the North-East economy and improve health, then health and social services will suffer unprecedented strain.

One way to reverse the trend is to attract workers into the region with jobs and cheap housing.

Dene Valley councillor Chris Foote Wood said Government funding for regenerating the area is available.

He said: "The Government has allocated a substantial sum of money for neighbourhood renewal and I praise the Government for this initiative, to tackle areas of greatest deprivation. The problem we have is the red tape.

"Bringing the money down to the local community is difficult because of the bureaucracy involved and we're dealing with small communities and the renewal money traditionally goes to large, urban areas."

He said new housing developments currently under way in Dene Valley should encourage young families to move into the area.

Coun Neil Stonehouse said: "Clearly we have an ageing population, but that's in common with the rest of the county. We're very keen to get regeneration going in a holistic sense, economically and socially. We'll be doing the best we can to get the best economic deal for Wear Valley.