DINERS at a Darlington restaurant will be surrounded by lizards and geckos as they tuck in to their award-winning food.

The colourful creatures are the subject of the first exhibition by local artist and printmaker, Carol Greenwood, who has created them especially for the show at Voodoo Cafe, in Skinnergate, Darlington.

The unique collagraphs were created to celebrate Darlington’s first arts festival, which is coordinated by Darlington for Culture and runs throughout May.

She said: “The restaurant, which was voted the best Latin restaurant outside London this year, has a unique ambiance and I wanted to create artwork which reflected that.

“Owners Les and Kendra Fry were kind enough to let me stage my first exhibition there so I tried to add to the restaurant’s special atmosphere.”

For more information on Darlington Arts Festival visit darlingtonforculture.org