ONE of the region's oldest firms celebrated a landmark anniversary last night with a spectacular pantomime show.

An exclusive performance of Beauty and the Beast, the production running at Darlington Civic Theatre, helped Darlington Building Society commemorate its 150th anniversary.

Special guests included readers of The Northern Echo who collected tokens in recent editions of the paper, enabling them to buy tickets for £1.50.

There was a cake-cutting ceremony on the stage and money raised through donations from Echo readers was presented to St Teresa's Hospice.

Drinks for the goody-bags handed out to theatre-goers were provided by Sainsbury's of Darlington, and Tesco, of Coulby Newham. Toffee came from Walkers Nonsuch Toffee and Schools Bars from Stream-Foods.

The show stars Darlington's own Pop Idol star, Zoe Birkett, Big Brother 2005 winner, Anthony Hutton, of Consett, and comic duo The Grumbleweeds.