ENERGETIC youngsters were given top tips from North-East athletes to celebrate the official opening of a new sports facility in their town.

Players from Durham Wildcats basketball team and Newton Aycliffe Football Club played alongside youngsters from three local schools on Horndale Multi-use Games Area on Greenfield Way today (Thursday, October 2).

It was an exciting day for Horndale Residents Association, which was set up two years ago to raise the £40,000 needed for the facility.

Work was completed in the summer but the group waited until October to coincide with its second anniversary.

Chairman Phil Clark, who opened the facility with Councillor Wendy Hillary, the mayor of Great Aycliffe, said: “We are very proud that we have managed to create this facility for the children of this area. We wouldn’t have been able to make this happen without the support of local people.”

The residents association, which is now working on other community projects, would also like to thank the many organisations that supported and funded the scheme, including Great Aycliffe Town Council, which will maintain the games area

Cllr Hillary said: “This is a brilliant facility for our children and it is already extremely well-used.”