A COUNTY Durham town is appealing to the rest of the region to back its campaign to bring one of Britain's biggest art prizes to the North-East.

Primary schoolchildren joined traders and civic dignitaries yesterday to promote Locomotion: National Railway Museum's bid to win the Gulbenkian Prize for museum of the year.

The Shildon museum is the only one in the North-East to be shortlisted for the sought- after accolade, which offers £100,000 in prize money.

Children from Thornhill Primary and St John's Primary, in Shildon, and members of the town's council and chamber of trade gathered at the multi- million pound facility yester- day to encourage people from all across the region to log on to the Internet in a show of support.

Councillor Marie Predki, Mayor of Sedgefield Borough, said winning the prize was not just about Shildon and the museum, it was about bringing recognition to the North-East as a whole.

She said: "We need to get across that this is the only museum in the North-East that has been shortlisted. We need people to show their support by logging on to the website and sharing their comments about the museum.

"It is not just about quantity, but the quality of the comments. This is not just a museum, it is somewhere that can be used for a host of events such as the recent Deltic ball and forthcoming flower festival. It is also a place for children and families to visit and enjoy.''

Coun Predki was joined by Shildon Town Mayor Garry Huntington who said that the museum was a fantastic facility that celebrated the town's strong links with the railways.

He said: "The impact that Locomotion has had on everyone who has visited it is unbelievable. It is a superb facility, and I for one would love to see it win the Gulbenkian Prize for Museum of the Year.''

Locomotion is facing competition from nine other national attractions including a community project on the Hebridean Isle of North Uist; a restored pit in south Wales; the reworked Transport Museum in Coventry; a new museum based on the fishing industry, in Great Yarmouth; newly-opened galleries at Compton Verney, in Warwickshire; and The Foundling Hospital, in London.

To show support for Shildon and the North-East log on to www.thegulbenkianprize.org and click on Your Comments.