AN EXHIBITION created by people with disabilities has opened to acclaim.

The Appreciating Ability 2 exhibition, which opened this week at Bishop Auckland Town Hall, was created by people with learning or physical disabilities and the elderly.

Professional artists, mainly from the Bear Park Co-operative, held a series of workshops with users of County Durham Care's services.

Spennymoor artist Tom McGuiness,who said: "Some ideas are brilliant. The best ones are the most simple."

The exhibition is a mixture of styles, from line drawings to oil paintings.

There were also sculptures, pottery and Egyptian-themed wall hangings, which artist Romey Chaffer helped create.

Romey, with other artists from Bear Park Co-operative, had taken adults with learning difficulties to the Oriental Museum at Durham University, where they studied Egyptian artefacts.

Gillian Wales from the town hall said: "I think people are very surprised by the high quality of work.