Steps have been taken to safeguard the future of a green oasis in one of the most intensely developed areas in the North-East.

Off the busy A19 in North Tyneside is Silverlink Retail Park, Cobalt Business Park and belts of new housing.

But almost 10 years ago it was decided that a place should be found for nature in the development corridor.

The 45-acre Silverlink biodiversity wildlife park was opened by Prof David Bellamy on what had been the site of a colliery spoil heap and then rubbish tip.

The centrepiece of the park near West Allotment is a hill formed from 500,000 tonnes of clay and soil excavated during the building of the nearby former Siemens factory.

At 300ft it is believed to be the highest point in North Tyneside.

The park also features a series of ponds, which are home to protected great crested newts, woodland, scrub, hedges, wildflower grassland and wetland.

Now the park has been designated as a Local Nature Reserve (LNR) by North Tyneside Council and English Nature.

Council biodiversity officer Jackie Hunter said that the park also met one of the LNR criteria by being a readily accessible green space for residents and workers at the retail and business parks.

She said: "The park is in a prime position beside the A19 with all the new housing and business developments and has a good range of habitats. It is very accessible for local people who may want to walk the dog or workers on their lunch breaks.

"It is man-made but it has developed amazingly well during the last 10 years."

The park was created by North Tyneside City Challenge, English Partnerships, North Tyneside Council and landscape and ecology consultants Anthony Walker and Partners and is thought to be the first of its type in the country.

More than 60,000 trees and shrubs were planted to complement new hedgerow banks, wildflower sowings, rough grassland areas and eight ponds. The contoured hill has a sundial on its summit.

Also designated as new Local Nature Reserves are Annitsford Pond, Wallsend Dene and Marden Quarry Park. Marden Quarry Park off the Broadway in Whitley Bay is the only exposure of magnesian limestone north of the Tyne.

The limestone quarry was started in 1684 and by 1961 all that was left was a 12-metre crater full of water.

The council acquired the quarry in the early 1970s and its lake and islands, and surrounding elder scrub, have become a valuable area for wildfowl.

The new reserves now join existing LNRs at St Mary's Island in Whitley Bay, Swallow Pond at Wallsend and Holywell Dene.