IS it a trainer? Is it a skate? No, it's a Flying Shoe - and it could be the next big thing.

The latest US craze has arrived in the North-East with the advent of training shoes fitted with wheels, which can be retracted to make a standard trainer or activated to make in-line skates.

Darlington toy shop owner Barrie Lamb is one of the first in the region to take delivery of the shoe-skates, after spotting their potential last year.

He said: "Two lads came into the shop and I was just about to say they couldn't come in with skates on when the wheels disappeared.

"I said to them 'I could have sworn you had skates on' and one of them lifted his boot and the wheels clicked out.

"They had been on holiday in Florida and, apparently, they are the latest craze there.

"You don't have to take your boots off to skate, you just click a button and off you go."

The boots, which sell for £29.99, were showcased at the Harrogate Toy Fair earlier this month, but Barrie had already got his order in.

"I think this is going to be the craze for the summer, just like scooters were last year, and if I hadn't seen this lad in the shop I wouldn't have known about them," he said.