Derek Foster, Labour MP for Bishop Auckland, is reported to have raised strong objections to the sale.

BBC: Church plans art treasure sale

Forty officers are working on the case and an incident room had been set up in Bishop Auckland.

BBC: Sybil Sibthorpe

Workers finished the statue, which will stand in Bishop Auckland, despite the site being damaged in the quake.

BBC: Quake odyssey for Laurel statue

Bernice Zair, from Bishop Auckland, was admitted to Darlington's Memorial Hospital late last year with an infection and died five weeks later.

BBC: Bernice Zair: Police probe hospital care

It follows reports of young people climbing onto and running along the roofs of buildings, including the bus station, in Bishop Auckland.

BBC: 'Free runners' urged to take care in County Durham

The MP for Bishop Auckland claimed her local county council would have to appoint two extra members of staff just to cope with the new policy.

BBC: Pickles accused of 'posturing' on council spending

In Bishop Auckland, runners have been using buildings especially in the Newgate Street and Tenter Street areas, as well as the bus station and other places with scaffolding and access to roofs, such as building sites.

BBC: 'Free runners' urged to take care in County Durham

However injuries meant that the Bishop Auckland born full-back slipped down the pecking order and he left for a loan spell at Sheffield Wednesday at the start of the current campaign to gain fitness and regular football.

BBC: McMahon upbeat despite Boro slump