A £20,000 play fort is to benefit deprived children in an African nation.

The timber fort was built on a former farm at Etherley near Barnard Castle, but will soon be shipped to the fishing village of Anomabo, in Ghana, West Africa.

It will be unveiled there by environmentalist Dr David Bellamy and handed over to deprived children on March 25, the 200th anniversary of the abolition of slavery.

It will be placed next to an ancient stone fort in which thousands of men and women were held in their final days in Africa before they were sent around the world as slaves.

Dr Bellamy said: "The old building was known as the fort of despair. But this wonderful new structure will be known as the fort of hope."

Made from three tonnes of Scandinavian red wood, the fort contains climbing frames, slides, chutes, ropes, and other play features.

It is a joint venture between two groups -Jigsaw and the Tree Appeal -and is linked to a project to plant thousands of fruit trees in Ghana.

Another company, Matta Products, is supplying rubber matting to go around the base of the fort.

Dr Bellamy, who will fly to Ghana for the fort's opening ceremony, said: "It is a very fitting symbol to the end of slavery."

Local children yesterday had the opportunity to try the fort before it was packed up for its journey.

Tom Wood, 11, of St Augustine's School, Darlington, said: "It is fantastic. It has everything you could want to have an exciting time."

Ken Whiteley, the managing director of the Tree Appeal, said: "We hope to make a real difference to people in Africa whose lives are far tougher that we can ever realise."