A SERIES of events around County Durham aim to give residents a taste for Fairtrade.

As part of Fairtrade Fortnight, Durham County Council is setting out a stall to raise awareness of the products available.

Market-stall browsers will be able to sample products at Chester-le-Street Market tomorrow, from 10.30am to 2.30pm, and again next Friday, from 10.30am to 4pm.

There will be a Fairtrade coffee morning at the Beveridge Arcade, Newton Aycliffe, from 11am to 2pm tomorrow, and market stalls at Durham City Market Place on Thursday and Saturday, March 18, from 10am to 4pm.

In 2004, the county council signed a Fairtrade resolution, as part of its Local Action 21 programme, to ensure a better deal for producers in other parts of the world.

Since then, it has served more than 150,000 cups of Fairtrade tea and coffee at County Hall and is expanding the range of products carrying the Fairtrade Foundation's Fairtrade mark at County Hall and other buildings.

Councillor Bob Pendlebury, the council's cabinet member for sustainability, said: "The Fairtrade mark gives us the confidence that the products we buy have been produced and traded in a way which is ethically sound.

"Buying Fairtrade products is a simple, practical way of making a positive difference to the lives of people in communities in other parts of the world."