A PEACE light that has travelled all the way from Bethlehem is spreading its warm glow across a hospital.

Patients, visitors and staff can visit the chapel at The James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough, to see the light. The candle will continue to burn in the chapel until the Epiphany.

Organised by the Scout movement, the journey of the peace light begins in Bethlehem in the cave beneath the Church of the Nativity, the birthplace of Jesus.

The light is then taken by a Palestinian child and handed to an Israeli Scout at the border. It is then flown to Vienna, from where it is distributed to countries in Europe and across the world.

Scout leader Arthur Woof, from the 4th South Bank Scout Group, received the light at Darlington railway station before it was taken to Middlesbrough.

The Reverend Malcolm Masterman, from the hospital, said: "The aim of distributing and receiving the light is to bring peace and friendship throughout the world."