DETERMINED efforts are being made to turn Darlington into a seaside resort.

For the second time in five months, the landlocked town is being promoted for its sea and sand.

Advertisers working for the British Resorts Association (BRA) have placed Darlington on a list of places to "make the most of Britain's magnificent and varied coastline".

The town featured alongside resorts such as Blackpool, Bournemouth and Eastbourne in a full page advert in The Mail on Sunday newspaper.

It is the second time such a slip has appeared in the national press.

In January, a three-page BRA advert appeared in a different newspaper, painting an accurate pen picture of Darlington's markets, shopping centres and yards.

However, the Darlington section was accompanied by a photograph of a beach.

A spokesman for Darlington Borough Council, which regularly imports sand into the market square to create a beach scenario as part of the Darlington By The Sea event, said he was mystified by those who were determined to shift the town to the coast.

"We will have a beach in the market place for this summer's Darlington By The Sea event, but if you are thinking of rolling your trouser legs up and going for a paddle in the sea, it's still going to be the best part of a 30-mile walk."

BRA director Peter Hampson said the mistake had been made by an agency and, had he seen the advert before publication, he would have picked up on it.

He said: "I am very cross that it has happened and it is very annoying that it has happened twice in one year, but it is not the same advertising agency and it is not the same publication."