PROMOTIONAL "sausage" banners which adorned Darlington town centre lamp posts in May have been given the thumbs-up by businesses and shoppers.

The colourful, tubular banners, which are similar to windsocks, were used to advertise town centre shopping during the two bank holiday Mondays.

Ms Louise Payne, town centre manager, said the experiment had been very successful and they would be used again in the future. She said: "All the feedback has been very positive, both from traders and visitors to the town centre.

"Traders said their footfall figures were up over the two Mondays and shoppers and people who work in the town thought the banners were very cheerful and gave the town a continental feel."

She added that several businesses were looking at how they could use the banners to promote different events in the town.

"We've booked them for the Christmas campaign which kicks off on November 10-11," she said, "and there are various discussions going on with town centre businesses and people such as Orange for the festival."

The banners also got the seal of approval from the chamber of trade.

Secretary Susan Young said: "The members were very, very receptive to them. They thought they added a lot to the town and were colourful, bright and informative. They are hoping they will be utilised in the future."

Mr Adrian Harrison, of Harrison Flagpoles who designed the tubular banners said: "We felt they made a great impact; they got people talking and they put the message across clearly. We're delighted with the result and the positive feedback we received.

He added: "Resulting from the success in Darlington, we are now working with other councils on similar projects throughout the North-East and nationally."