A TOY store is celebrating reaching the finals of a national competition at its first attempt.

Lamb's Stores, in Darlington, is the only toy shop in the North of England to be short-listed in the annual awards run by the British Association of Toy Retailers.

Stores have to be nominated for the competition, with assessments then made by mystery customers, to produce a final 12 across the country.

Barrie Lamb, who has run the shop for 35 years, said: "It came out of the blue and it was a very pleasant surprise.

"We are a traditional toy shop, and there are very few of us around now.

"Most of the trade is large multiples and they don't have the individual products we do."

He said the store had about 80,000 different toys in stock and had recently set up an Internet website, which was already producing orders from the US.

He said: "You have to know the product range because we get a lot of people, such as grandparents, who don't know the up-do-date toys and they ask for suggestions.

"There aren't a lot of traditional shops left, so to be nominated for this award is good for the independent trade and good for Darlington."

A spokeswoman for the British Association of Toy Retailers said: "This is the first time Lamb's Stores has entered, and the judges look at everything from the appearance of the shop to staff training, quality of the merchandise and how it is displayed."

The winner will be announced at a dinner on January 28