A FESTIVAL has found itself with an accommodation crisis over plans for an anniversary event.

Billingham International Folklore Festival will celebrate its 40th anniversary next year, with the cream of national dance groups expected to be invited to perform - but there is nowhere for them to stay.

Before it moved out of town, Stockton and Billingham College had provided accommodation for the visiting singers, dancers and musicians for many years.

The groups attending this year's event were invited to stay at St Michael's Roman Catholic School, in Billingham, but festival director Joe Maloney said that offer was a one-off.

Mr Maloney said: "We need a school or somebody who has a big office block we can turn into dormitories, provide a dining area and an area for socialising."

He said organisers would start to view hundreds of videos to choose the best groups to invite for next year's festival.

He said this year's festival, which finished at the weekend, had gone extremely well with almost full capacity audience figures for concerts, more than 100 youngsters attending music and dance workshops each day and an overwhelming demand for dance classes with the groups.