The former Vane Tempest colliery in Seaham

Almost 1,000 jobs were lost when the Vane Tempest colliery in Seaham closed in 1993.

It was the last in a series of devastating blows to an area which once boasted scores of coal mines, employing tens of thousands of people.

But a decade later and after millions of pounds in regeneration cash, there is fresh optimism in the East Durham coastal town.

Following a �6m reclamation programme, the site of the pit is being redeveloped for housing.

A consortium of three companies is building 600 homes on the colliery site at a cost of �34m.

Nearby, the recently-opened �50m Dalton Park retail complex is sited on former colliery spoil heaps.

And a �10m Turning the Tide project, is changing the face of the area's coastline.

Seaham town councillor Eddie Mason said: "It is tremendous what is going on here at the moment.

A modern memorial to lost mining jobs in Seaham

"Before the pits closed we had absolutely no investment here at all.

"But over recent years we have had some good investment and I think that anybody who hasn't been to the town for a while should come back and see how things have changed for the better."

Vane Tempest is a 79-acre site, principally comprising former colliery lands to the North of Seaham town centre, overlooking the Durham coastline.

The site was reclaimed by regeneration agency One NorthEast with funding from the National Coalfields Programme.

The finishing touches are also being made to a �17m restoration of a nearby 200-acre Hawthorn Colliery and coke works site.

One NorthEast has managed the three-year scheme, which has seen the sculpting of three million tonnes of material and the planting of 320,000 native trees and shrubs.

Easington Council leader Alan Napier said: "After big outward migration for 15 years we have actually seen 2,000 people moving back into the area in the last two years.

"We have worked hard to regenerate the area and we are turning it around."