Cleaned-up coastline is now a haven for sea life.

DIVERS exploring beneath the waves of what was once a coal-scarred stretch of coastline have uncovered an environmental success story.

And their discovery could lead to the Durham coastline becoming a magnet for underwater explorers, rivalling St Abb's in Berwickshire and Northumberland's Farne Islands.

Divers from Seasearch - a Marine Conservation Society - encountered a landscape of kelp forests, sandy sea bed and sponge-encrusted rocky reefs.

They recorded numerous species, including lobsters, many types of crab, northern prawns, little cuttle, sea slugs, urchins, common starfish, brittle stars, colourful anemones and various fish, including plaice, bib and the ferocious sounding but harmless long-spined sea scorpions.

Seasearch diver Carrie Pillow, who has 25 years experience of diving in the UK, said: "A lot of divers just go to the well-known dive sites like St Abbs and the Farne Islands, but the North East coast has so much more to offer.

"We have some amazing sites that are just teeming with life and they are so tranquil."

Heritage Coast officer Niall Benson, from Durham County Council, said: "The principle work of this partnership is to protect and enhance the landscape and nature conservation areas, and this is coastal management at its best."