A POLICEMAN has launched a website dedicated to the Durham Miners Gala.

North-East "exile" Geoff Smith, based in Manchester - known in his home region as "the painting policeman''- has posted a selection of the 500 digital photographs he took at the recent 120th Big Meeting.

They include shots of bands, banners, guests on the balcony of the Royal County Hotel and some of the thousands of people who attended the spectacle.

He plans to turn a handful of the photographs into paintings, which he hopes to display at next year's gala.

Mr Smith, 42, of Sale, a radio operator with the Greater Manchester force, is originally from Hartlepool but has been in the North-West since 1990.

"I remember going to the gala when I was nine but I hadn't been again until last year, when a mate of mine, who is from Stanley, suggested it,'' he said.

"We had such a good day that I said that I would make it an annual pilgrimage.

"What I like about the gala is the music, the banners and the amount of pride. There are people of all ages - from tots to nonagenarians - celebrating."

Mr Smith, who has had several exhibitions and sold paintings internationally, plans to update his site with photographs from future galas. The address is www.thebigmeeting. co.uk and his work can be viewed at www. 0161art.com