Hundreds of visitors tried their hand at traditional rural skills during the launch of the new £1.4 million Derbyshire Eco Centre.

Derbyshire County Council has built its new centre on Porter Lane, Middleton-by-Wirksworth, to help maintain the area's rural heritage and support people to live sustainably.

Councillor Andrew Lewer, Derbyshire County Council Leader, officially opened the centre during a day of celebration where visitors were able to try skills such as pole lathing and straw bale building.

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Councillor Lewer said: "The Derbyshire Eco Centre is a fantastic new building which has allowed us to expand the number of courses we run to safeguard many traditional Derbyshire skills.

"It was wonderful to meet so many people who came along to see how they could benefit from what the centre offers.

"We want to encourage people to live sustainable lifestyles to protect the environment and help save money and the new centre is a great way of supporting that."

The eco centre includes many environmentally-friendly features including a grass roof, rainwater harvesting to supply toilets, solar panels to heat water, and under floor heating driven by an air source heat pump.

(CD)