THE winner of a competition to design a new logo for a campaign to cut smoking in Derwentside will be announced on Thursday.

Smoke Free Derwentside was set up in the summer to reduce the amount of smoke in the environment across the district.

Schoolchildren were encouraged to design a logo for the project. It will be used to identify homes, workplaces, public spaces and schools which have achieved smoke-free status.

Dr Anne Low, director of public health for Derwentside, said: "Smoke Free Derwentside is an important project for the Derwentside area because it will tackle smoking, one of the major risk factors for ill health and early death from coronary heart disease, cancers, stroke and many other conditions.

"In the North-East there are more than 5,500 smoking-related deaths each year. However, this statistic hides the hundreds of thousands of people who suffer poor health as a result of active or passive smoking."

About 600 children entered the competition and the winner will see his or her entry turned into a logo by a professional graphic artist.