Work has started on the first phase of a £5m holiday park expansion at the Golden Sands Holiday Park, near Cresswell in Northumberland.

The expansion will include more spaces for accommodation and a spa and swimming pool, which will be open to local people as well as visitors holidaying at the park. The woodland-surrounded site will also feature nature walks and cycle tracks.

The expansion plans received the go-ahead late last year after initially being rejected by Castle Morpeth Council.

Nigel Thompson, Director of Northumbrian Leisure, which owns the park, said: “It’s been a dream for a long time for us to do this.

“The park will generate jobs and benefit the local economy through increased trade to retail and food outlets, restaurants and visitor attractions.”

As part of the plans, Northumbrian Leisure has made a commitment to conserve and enhance the site’s surrounding countryside, which includes 25 acres of woodland.

Thompson said: “Tourism and conservation can go very well together. Protecting and enhancing the natural environment as we expand is at the heart of the project.

“We want to retain and enhance an area where people can experience and enjoy natural, country living.”