SPORTING fans from all over the world are logging on to a small County Durham company's website for their football shirts and other sporting kit.

Celebrities including Ant and Dec and the cast of Channel Four soap Hollyoaks have worn the football kits made by TSM Sportswear, in Shildon.

The small company has supplied kits to sportspeople including the Welsh national running team and Shildon AFC, who played Notts County in their historic FA Cup run last November.

Arthur Sayers, who runs the company with the help of his son, Shaun, said: "Everything that we do is actually made to order. We have a range of nine different styles and 14 different colours.

"We have had contracts from Fila and Nike and have supplied kit for films that have appeared on BBC. We also did five kits for Prime Suspect.''

The business was established on the corner of Byerley Road, on the Hackworth Industrial Estate, in 1986, with only six employees making racquets.

It started manufacturing football shirts and other sportswear in 1993 after Mr Sayer bought out his business partner. Today it has a workforce of 12, with plans to expand its storage area to meet demand.

The company's website, at www.tsmfootball.com, is accessed by people from all over the world.

Mr Sayers said: "We get inquiries from all sorts of people - from individuals who want individual designs to corporate teams which want strips.

"We are able to cut out the middle-man and that is why we are able to compete with people importing from foreign countries.''