THE world's largest collection of British ceramic teapots is expected to stir up plenty of interest when an exhibition opens in the region this week.

Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, County Durham, will host the exhibition for three months, which it is hoped will draw thousands of visitors.

Time for Tea: The Tale of Teapots and Tea has been organised by the Norfolk Museums and Archaeology Service, in Norwich, which owns the collection. Since 1989, the museum has worked with the support of 296-year-old tea experts, Twinings, to preserve artefacts relating to the tea industry, many of which make up the 3,000 teapots in the collection.

The exhibition will tell the story of tea and tea drinking in Britain and will give visitors a rare chance to view the teapots, some of which date from the 18th Century.

Howard Coutts, keeper of ceramics at Bowes, said: "Time for Tea will be a wonderful opportunity for people to learn about the history of tea, see some of the Twinings Teapot Gallery collection, as well as images and artefacts from the Twinings family archives."

The collection will be at the Bowes Museum from Wednesday until Wednesday, July 31, with additional events being organised to help celebrate Fine Tea Week.

For more details about the exhibition contact the museum on (01833) 690606.