CAMPAIGNERS fighting plans to site an academy on playing fields will get the chance to put their case at an independent inquiry.

A barrister specialising in village green law will chair a hearing into claims by the Consett Green Spaces Group that land at Belle Vue has been used for recreation for more than 20 years.

The group wants the land to be officially designated a village green, which would be a bar to development.

But Durham County Council is opposing the bid because it wants the land for the town's proposed academy, which will replace Consett Community Sports College and Moorside Community Technology College.

The group wants the new establishment to be built on the town's former steelworks but it failed to win a High Court judicial review of the council's decision to opt for Belle Vue.

The county council's North Durham general registration and licensing sub-committee agreed this afternoon to appoint a barrister to hold an inquiry.

The barrister will hear evidence and prepare a report on his findings and make a recommendation to the council on whether to accept the group's application or reject it.

Councillor Owen Temple, a member of Consett Open Spaces Group, declared an interest and left the room during the sub-committee's brief consideration of the issue.