SHARP-EYED young shoppers have picked up bargain prizes by helping to boost businesses in town centre shops.

Three-year-old Isha Shakir, who lives in South Church, carried off a giant teddy after she spotted ten tiny bears in the windows of Bishop Auckland stores.

Her prize, in the competition orgainsed by the Bishop Auckland Town Centre Forum, was presented by Craig Brown, a sales assistant at Vodaphone's Newgate Street outlet.

At another ceremony in electric retailers JC Ellis, Sophie Teasdale, aged eight, was given a colour television for finding and naming former Bishops of Durham scattered around the town. Her prize was presented by James Lowther, from the Grosvenor Collective of Artists who produced the models of the bishops.

Town centre manager Ken Wilson said the competitions, which ran during the summer months, were a way of encouraging people to shop in Bishop Auckland.