The Apollo Pavilion in Peterlee has been awarded grade II* listing by architecture minister John Penrose.

English Heritage supported the listing for the building, designed by artist Victor Pasmore and completed in 1969.

It acts as the centrepiece of two sides of a housing estate and was neglected in the late 1970s and 1980s.

Penrose said: “This is a striking example of how abstract art and ‘brutalist’ architecture can come together to make a building that is quite unique, and all the more so now that it has been rescued from dereliction in a highly successful project supported by Lottery funding and driven by the commitment of local people.”