TELLY addicts in Darlington are being offered the chance to get paid for sharing their views about what's on the box.

TV research panel theviewers.co.uk is aiming to shake up the research industry and is looking to recruit participants in the area.

A focus group is an informal group discussion of six to eight participants led by a trained interviewer, who asks questions in encourages discussion.

Sessions last up to two hours and participants could be paid as much as £70.

Dean Richardson is a former research manager for satellite television network UKTV and the founder of Inquisi Research Ltd, the agency that owns and manages the website.

He said: "The TV research industry is still very London-centric, with Birmingham and Manchester the most popular 'northern' locations.

"Whenever we ventured further afield, we were impressed with the refreshingly honest feedback from viewers.

"The issue, however, is these less researched cities don't have that ready pool of participants waiting to take part in research projects.

"We set up theviewers.co.uk to target anyone over 16 in the UK who quite fancies being paid to talk about TV, but otherwise has no interest in becoming a market research junkie."

Signing up is free. For more information, visit theviewers.co.uk