Darlington town centre could become more breastfeeding-friendly thanks to a £20,000 grant.

The borough council has secured the money from the Centre for Public Scrutiny, to carry out a review of the facilities in the town centre for nursing mothers.

A review group will look at the possibility of introducing an accreditation scheme for cafes and shops, to encourage them to provide facilities for breastfeeding.

Premises taking part could be given a window sticker to show they are breastfeeding-friendly.

The authority is one of nine in the country, and the only one in the North-East, taking part in the programme.

It is working in partnership with the primary care trust (PCT) and acute NHS trust and Government body SureStart.

Councillor Marian Swift, chairwoman of the council's health scrutiny committee, said: "We are delighted to be awarded funding to carry out this innovative review and thank the PCT, acute trust, Sure Start and the breastfeeding support groups for their input so far. We look forward to working in partnership with them throughout the project and sharing lessons learned with councils across the country."

Research shows that while breastfeeding in the town has increased, it is still below Government targets.

Last year, an average of 52 per cent of Darlington mothers began breastfeeding at delivery, but that figure dropped to 41 per cent after 14 days