A BARNARD Castle restaurant raised more than £1,100 for the town's annual meet earlier this week.

The Spice Island Indian restaurant, in the market place, held a Bollywood-themed night to raise funds for the festival, which takes place this weekend.

The restaurant put on authentic Indian food and music, and diners had the opportunity to have a henna tattoo or to smoke a traditional Shisha pipe.

One bidder spent £400 on a collection of items from the restaurant, with the highest bid for a single item being £105.

Zak Ahmed, manager of Spice Island, said: "It was a really fantastic evening and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

"To be able to raise this much in one night is amazing really."