THE North-East finals of a competition to find the young designers of tomorrow takes place this week.

Durham County Cricket Club, in Chester-le-Street, hosts the fourth annual regional final of the Audi Young Designer 2005 competition, tomorrow.

It is backed by regional development agency One NorthEast.

Sixty entries have reached the final stages, with products ranging from can crushers to wheelchair wheels and an alarm clock for those with hearing problems. Their designs will be put to the test by a panel of judges made up of leading engineers, designers and academics from across the region.

Pat Ritchie, director of strategy and development at One NorthEast, said: "The North-East has a wealth of young design talent as demonstrated by the high number and high quality of entries we have received in this region."

Two entries will win their way through to the national finals, to be held at Gateshead's Baltic Arts Centre in September, with the eventual winners walking off with a £5,000 prize, a £5,000 award to their school and a nine-month work placement at Audi's Design Studios in Germany.