AN Internet accommodation service has won another award to add to recent successes.

Bedsearcher.com, in Darlington, has been named as the region's Internet business of the year, at the North-East Business Awards.

It is the latest in a string of awards for the company, which was founded in a bedroom three years ago and is growing at a rate of 3,000 per cent a year.

Founder Gill Chapple, of Darlington, said: "There are far too few North-East companies really embracing the power of the web, and I hope that our success will demonstrate to others what can be achieved and encourage them to look at the web as a marketing, distribution and delivery channel for business."

The North-East Business Awards, presented at Hardwick Hall, Sedgefield, County Durham, bring together winners from Tees Valley, Durham, Wearside, Northumberland and Tyneside, in ten categories.

Bedsearcher.com enables people to book rooms in 8,000 hotels, bed and breakfasts and guesthouses across Europe, through the website and a freephone call centre.