A GROUP of poets have taken their passion for words to Scandinavia.

Andy Willoughby and Jo Colley, from Darlington, Bob Beagrie and Val Magee, from Middlesbrough and Angela Redman, from Newcastle, visited Turku, the ancient capital of Finland.

The group read poetry to audiences and worked with resident jazz musicians.

"We performed in English but worked with translators all week," said Mr Willoughby, a performing arts lecturer at Darlington College of Technology.

The visit was the first part of a Tees Valley/Baltic exchange. A group of Finnish poets will visit the North-East next month and will perform in Middlesbrough, Darlington and Whitby.

Mr Willoughby said: "The Finns are intensely creative and we are expecting big audiences when they come here, particularly as there is a large Scandinavian population in the region."