A VILLAGE'S new community park has been named after a police officer who was stabbed to death answering a routine call.

Sergeant Bill Forth was murdered in Sunniside, near Whickham, Gateshead, in 1993, after he was hit with sticks and repeatedly stabbed.

He grew up in Fence Houses, near Chester-le-Street, County Durham, where he had many friends. The park, created on a derelict former recreation ground, has been named the Bill Forth Memorial Park.

The park was officially opened by his mother, Noreen, on Saturday, which would have been Sgt Forth's 47th birthday.

The £190,000 project has been carried out by Little Lumley Parish Council, Fence Houses Residents' Association, Groundwork West Durham and Chester-le-Street District Council, with backing from the Countryside Agency, County Durham Environmental Trust, English Partnerships and Premier Waste.

The park, which has a basketball area, paths and flower beds, will have four seats, one of which will bear a plaque in memory of the father-of-two.

Mrs Forth, 86, said the new park was great and said she was proud to see her son, who loved his job, remembered by so many people.

Mrs Forth, who still lives in the area, said he was popular and had opted to join the police rather than train to be a teacher.

She said: "He worked at Sunderland a lot, but when he got promoted to sergeant, he went to Whickham, where he patrolled the council estate. People in the area took him to their hearts.''

Karen Thompson, of Fence Houses Residents' Association, said: "It has taken us, the parish council and the district council quite a few years to get to this point. We thought it would be a fitting memorial with Bill being a local lad."

Little Lumley Parish Council chairman and Chester-le-Street District councillor Tom Harland, who was a friend of Sgt Forth, said: "He was too nice to be policeman. He had a lovely nature. His death was a tragedy."

The area's county councillor, Brian Walker, said: "It is important that this is recognised this is for a loved son and a great friend to lots of people in the Fence Houses area.

"We thought that, as we were spending all this money, let's name the park after Bill -someone who stood out in the community -rather than just calling it a community park or naming it after a councillor."

In 1994, the Police Memorial Trust put up a memorial to Sgt Forth near to the place in Sunniside where he was killed.