HOLLYWOOD star Michael Caine has been invited to celebrate the transformation of a stretch of Durham coastline made famous by his cult film Get Carter.

The Turning The Tide partnership - which has spent £10m over five years regenerating the beaches of east Durham - hopes the actor will appear at its spectacular Sea of Lights event when fireworks and explosions will light up the coast.

Sylvester Stallone, Caine's co-star in the new Get Carter 2000 film, cannot take up his invitation to next month's party.

In the climax of the original 1970s movie, Caine's character, gangster Jack Carter, is shot on Blackhall Rocks.

The location was chosen because the beach was black from colliery waste and featured Blackhall Colliery's waste tipper.

It has now been returned to its natural glory by the project which has cleared 1.3m tonnes of colliery spoil from miles of beaches where in places it was 30ft deep.

Mine machinery has been removed from Blackhall and the natural action of the sea is being left to finalise the cleaning process.

More than 30,000 fireworks and 4,000 kilos of explosive will light up the coastline during the Sea of Lights display which is expected to last 15 minutes.

The show will begin at 7pm, on September 9, and also features ten Second World War searchlights, a flare-path of 50 gas beacons and fire sculptures.

Schoolchildren from east Durham will build lanterns and the event will be choreographed to specially commissioned music written by Jes Lowe.

Organiser Ray Leonard said: "The Sea of Lights will be the most amazing event the Durham Coast has ever seen.

"So much light and fire will be used that the event should be visible from space.

"We asked Michael Caine's agent and we are really delighted that someone synonymous with the grim past we have reversed may be present to witness the work TTT has done."

Three public viewing points will be set up at Dawdon, Easington Colliery and Crimdon Caravan Park.

Free buses will transport people to Dawdon and Easington Colliery.