THE organisers of a produce show saved from the axe last year say they have had a big response from competitors to this year's event.

The second Durham Horticultural and Craft Show will be held in the Durham Room at County Hall, Aykley Heads, Durham, on Saturday and Sunday, September 10 and 11.

The show was salvaged last year, with Durham County Council support, after Durham City Council decided to pull the plug on its annual produce show, which had been held for about 30 years.

The committee running the show said there have been many entries for the event and that it should be bigger than last year's.

Show secretary Gordon Steel said: "We are on target to exceed the entries we had last year because we have had more time to prepare this time. I would expect it to be significantly increased.

"Everybody who entered last year has had schedules for two months and we have also sent them to the secretaries of the associations.

"We were at Gateshead Summer Festival last weekend and we attracted a lot of interest in the show.''

Mr Steel said last year's show attracted 970 entries in various classes, including produce, crafts, and children's sections, compared with 680 when the event was staged by the city council. Also, the attendance increased significantly.

As well as the produce show, there will be other attractions, including storytelling for children, a computer drop-in, mat-making and craft classes and walks in the grounds of the DLI Museum and Durham Art Gallery.

Former county councillor Peter Thompson, who led the show's revival, said: "We have high expectations that we can get even more participants than last year.''

Anyone interested in entering can get a schedule and further details by calling Mr Steel on 07968 908160.