A DANCE craze tailored to suit most musical tastes is sweeping the North-East.

Modern jive is catching on in discos and on function room dance floors across the region, partly through the efforts of Lynn Smith.

The Darlington dance teacher, who already runs three Blitz Modern Jive classes, on Teesside and Tyneside, opens a fourth to serve the Durham area tomorrow.

Lynn said the new class, at Bowburn Community Centre, will help to relieve pressure on her other classes, as some of her regulars travel from County Durham to either Wallsend, Stockton or Middlesbrough, where other sessions are already well established.

"I get some who go to more than one because they enjoy it so much. It's really easy- going and relaxed, but people have a great time and it can be danced to anything from Latin, rock, pop, big band or swing, as long as there's an even beat.

"Although we dance in pairs, you do not need to have a partner. We pair everyone up with each other during the course of an evening.

"We get a fairly even mix of men and women and across the age range, from students to people in their fifties."

Tomorrow's opening night at the community centre, on Durham Road, Bowburn, runs from 7.30 to 10.30pm, and is a free taster session.

The charge for the following weeks is £6 for every two classes.