ON the catwalks of Milan it might not quite cut it as a glamorous accessory.

But for a reader of The Northern Echo who lives in the Italian fashion capital, a bag bearing the name of his favourite newspaper is absolutely de rigueur.

For the past 15 years, Jonathan Ascough, from Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, has cycled around Milan with a fluorescent Northern Echo newsbag.

He moved to Italy to start up an industrial model-making business and found our sack ideal for carrying large drawings while on his bike.

The bag had stood the test of time - until earlier this year when it finally gave up the ghost.

For Mr Ascough, no other bag would do. So he called his mother, Marian, at home in the North-East and asked for another.

She rang Echo logistics manager Dave Moss, who happily complied with the unusual request, and the bag was delivered when she visited her son earlier this month.

Mrs Ascough said: "We can't remember where he got the original bag from but it was absolutely dropping to pieces.

"He was really pleased with the new one."

Her son, 39, said: "The old style newspaper bag is probably the most comfortable and the safest in the heavy Milan traffic.

"I do receive some strange looks from the locals, but even stranger looks from visiting football fans, like when Newcastle played Inter last season here in Milan," added the father-of-three.

Mr Moss said: "It was certainly an unusual request. I was a bit gobsmacked really, especially about the place it was going to".