IT is known the world over as the birthplace of the railways, but the North-East is now forging a name for itself in a slightly quainter industry.

More than one million plants grown at Darlington Borough Council's Woodburn Nursery are being transported to towns and cities across the country.

The town's string of successes in Northumbria in Bloom competitions, as well as victory in Britain in Bloom and a succession of medals at Chelsea Flower Shows, has raised its profile in the floral world.

Interest in the nursery's products has soared in recent months, leading to unprecedented demand.

Convoys of lorries are carrying nearly 200 tonnes of flowers grown in Darlington that will feature in city centre shows from Durham to Kent this summer.

All the plants are grown to order and top of the list of exports are marigolds, geraniums and bizzie lizzies. They will also be featuring in many of Darlington's floral displays this summer.

Nursery manager Mark Riddle is in charge of a small team which begins the job of growing plants in March so they will be in bloom by June.

He said: "We have had a lot of sunshine this year, and it has brought the plants on very quickly, so the challenge for us has been to make sure they are coming into bloom at the right time.

"We keep about 160,000 plants for our own displays in Darlington, and the remainder we sell to councils.

"It is pleasing that we have a reputation for floral success, but we still have to make sure the plants we grow meet our customers' expectations."

The flowers will be seen in displays at Worcester, Telford, Bromley, Durham, Stockton, Richmond and Northallerton.