A WOMAN who has spearheaded the drive to promote Durham city centre for the last 18 months is leaving for pastures new.

Chris Rawlinson, who helped to organise the successful Durham Christmas Festival last year, has announced she is quitting her post as city centre manager.

She will take up a similar role in Colchester in early December once this year's Christmas build-up in Dur-ham is under way.

Members of the Durham City Forum, a trade and business group, have been told of the move.

They are now being asked to make contributions to help fund a successor for the next three years.

The 52-year-old married mother of two grown-up children said she was making the move "for family reasons".

She will stay in post until after this year's Christmas Festival, over the weekend of November 30/December 1, having overseen the launch of the city's temporary winter ice rink and Christmas lights on November 14.

On leaving Durham, she begins her new job in the Essex garrison town as executive director of Colchester Town Partnership.

She said: "It's quite a big move for me. I'll not be leaving until after all this year's Christmas events are well under way in Durham.

"I've thoroughly enjoyed my time here. It's a pleasure to work in such a city.

"There's a fabulous atmosphere and ambience and it's been a tremendous experience.

"There's lots of exciting plans in Colchester. It's the oldest recorded town in the country and so, like Durham, it has a tremendous history."

She has already made a big input to this year's "bigger and better" seasonal festivities, under the banner: "Durham is Different this Christmas."

Mrs Rawlinson, from Lancashire, was Sunderland city centre manager for four years before succeeding Durham's first ever city centre manager, Barry Turnbull, in April last year.

A statement by city forum joint chairmen Colin Wilkes and Peter Bennion said Durham's loss would be Colchester's gain.

"Chris has done a tremendous amount of work pulling together so many facets of the city, proving that the forum can, and does, work in partnership to build a better city centre for Durham."