A MARKETING brand borrowed from an illustrious neighbour could help sell a Durham dale as a holiday destination.

Council tourism chiefs in the Wear Valley are stressing the district's close proximity to Durham City in advertisements carrying their new Durham Dales label, cashing in on people's familiarity with its landmark cathedral and castle.

A market-testing exercise is under way to see if the new brand brings in visitors from others parts of the country.

Although tourism is already worth £37m a year to the Wear Valley economy, the council says that not enough visitors stay overnight, spending money on meals and accommodation.

A study last year found that outsiders had a negative image of the district, if they had heard of it at all.

And a 2002 survey of visitors to the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, which includes parts of the Wear Valley, found that only one per cent of visitors used the North Pennines name.

Sue Dawson, the district's head of economic regeneration, said: "We have the problem of a lack of awareness of Wear Valley as a visitor destination.

"People have heard of Durham and have strong images of its castle and cathedral, but they have not heard of the Wear Valley, even though we have beautiful scenery and some excellent places to visit.

"People come for the day, but not enough stay overnight and spend money. We are tapping into One NorthEast's marketing campaign Passionate People, Passionate Places and using Durham because people in other parts of the country know exactly where it is.

"We don't want to flood the district with visitors, but there is plenty of scope to bring in more."

If the branding is a success, the Durham Dales label could be used to market food and other home-grown products.