Durham Miners Hall to be made into visitor attraction

Plans have been unveiled to transform a historic union headquarters into a visitor attraction.

The Durham Miners Hall, known locally as the Pitman's Parliament, has been at the heart of miners' welfare in Durham for the last 100 years.

Now there are plans to use lottery money to transform the grade II listed mansion into a heritage and education centre.

Dr Stuart Howard from Sunderland University believes the hall and the way union leaders worked within it shows how important it was as a democratic institution.