A �7.5m redevelopment of a County Durham estate has been halted after rare newts were found on the site.

Durham County Council has been farced to delay the restoration of the 18th Century Hardwick Estate near Sedgefield, after great crested newts and a protected species of bat were discovered.

The area is already popular as a country park, attracting more than 200,000 visitors a year.

But plans to redevelop a further 150 acres have been delayed until at least September, after the rare animals were found.

'Further surveys'

The first stage of the redevelopment was the recreation of the estate's 17-acre centrepiece lake.

But plans to fell trees, so the landscaped estate could be reopened, have had to be postponed after an ecological study found seven species of resident bats, and the protected great crested newts in a pond.

Project manager Catherine Grezo said: "Further surveys are needed to tell us more about the newts' distribution.

"To avoid disturbing them, we are putting back the tree work until the autumn, by which time we should know how many newts are there and how we can protect them."

The Heritage Lottery Fund has already given �750,000 towards the project, which it is hoped will become a major attraction for County Durham.