PARTS of a town's greens most in need of improvement are to be spruced up after councillors were told there was not enough money to carry out all the work.

Barnard Castle Town Council has transformed the Garden of Remembrance and members are keen to carry out improvements to the two greens either side of it and four smaller areas.

The council's services committee was told it would cost almost £6,800 for all the work to be done, but only £2,950 was available.

Councillor Roger Peat, the committee chairman, said: “We should see what we can get for the money we have got.

“Rather than say we will do one garden as opposed to another, we should do the important bits.”

Coun John Watson said the greens had originally been established to create a good quality walk along Galgate to the town centre from Barnard Castle's former railway station.

“The greens were created by the Board of Health, complete with railings round them,” he said.

“These were taken away for the war effort.”

Responsibility for the greens had passed to the Urban District Council, then Teesdale District Council and finally Durham County Council in 2009.

However, the committee was told the greens were among a number of assets in Barnard Castle the town council was hoping will be transferred from Durham County Council into its custodianship.