A GROUP of homeless and formerly homeless people have revamped a piece of old church land to create a garden idyll.

The Teesside Homeless Action Group (THAG) developed the scheme and the volunteers knuckled down and worked for several months to transform the land.

On Saturday the Right Reverend Kevin Dunn, Bishop of Newcastle and Hexham, was in Hardwick, Stockton to open the garden.

Having to learn as they went along, the volunteers and THAG staff planned, laid out, planted then landscaped the half-acre of land.

The finished community garden includes a human sundial, a play area, a pet area and a kitchen garden.

The project was funded through Barclays Bank and the training sessions were funded by homeless charity, Shelter.