A WINE and spirit company is adding another 7,000sq ft to its County Durham premises.

Lanchester Wine Cellars bottles and distributes wines from a 200,000sq ft warehouse - the largest independent bonded warehouse in the North of England - and is building the extension to house its offices.

The environmentally-friendly building, which will include 221 solar panels, will also house a showroom for the firm's gifts and a wine-tasting room for potential customers.

The building will be complete by the end of the year.

Tony Cleary, managing director of Lanchester Wine Cellars, said the company had recently taken on another two senior members of staff to help expand the business.

"The new office space is really exciting for us, as it will enable us to showcase the expanding sections of our company, such as the Lanchester Gift division," he said.

"The business is constantly expanding and this new area will strengthen the quality of our services."

Lanchester Wine Cellars now also supplies more than one million litres of liquor to the catering industry for use in the production of ready meals, and 2.2 million gifts to retailers and independent traders.