ORGANISERS of one of Wear Valley's biggest annual events hope to share their success with two growing tourist attractions.

Thousands of visitors are expected to attend the third annual Wear Valley Food Festival at Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland, next Easter.

The event, which gives local businesses a chance to showcase their products, has helped put Bishop Auckland back on the map and is going from strength to strength.

The past two festivals have attracted about 6,000 people each year and organisers hope that those visitors will take the opportunity to look around two nearby tourist attractions.

This year's event, which will take place on Easter Saturday, April 15, already has a host of family entertainment planned as well as arts, crafts and food stalls.

Two free shuttle buses will be running throughout the festival, taking visitors to nearby Harperley Prisoner of War Camp, near Wolsingham, and Locomotion: The National Railway Museum, in Shildon.

It is hoped as many people as possible will take advantage of the services which are being provided by Wear Valley District Council, Harperley Camp and Locomotion.

Mike Richardson, tourism officer for Wear Valley District Council, said: "The food festival is going from strength to strength.

"Through the contributions of the various organisers, who want to encourage more people to visit the area, it is hoped that the number of visitors will increase and enhance all three attractions.

"By providing these free bus services, we are helping people to visit more than one event or attraction on the same day at no extra cost"

George Muirhead, manager at Locomotion welcomed the idea, saying it was a fantastic opportunity for the three attractions to work together.

He said: "This is a great way for three local attractions to work together and bring more visitors to the area.

"It will allow people to see more than one attraction in one day and it is something we are keen to support and develop in the future.

"I think we are now starting to get across that the North-East is a wonderful place to visit, with some world-class attractions.''