A PARK is to be upgraded by a housing developer after planners gave it approval to build 167 houses in part of north Durham.

Derwentside District Council granted Bett Homes North-East planning permission to build 100 homes on land south of Lime Street, in South Moor, Stanley.

There were four local objections to the scheme, but the development control committee approved the application after the builder offered to renovate nearby Memorial Park.

An application from the same company to build 67 houses on Tyne Road, Stanley, was also approved.

Planning officer Shaun Wells said the firm would spend £100,000 resurfacing tennis and basketball courts, landscaping the park and installing floodlights and CCTV cameras.

The company is also to spend £30,000 improving play equipment in the village.

Concerns were raised about the effect on wildlife, because the land is a greenfield site, as well as the impact of noise and traffic from extra cars.

The developments will contain a mixture of three and four-bedroomed detached and semi-detached houses.

Derwentside District Council leader Alex Watson said: "New housing is vital for the regeneration of Stanley, and we owe it to residents to take the opportunity to improve the facilities in Memorial Park."