BUSINESSES which profit from the North-East's natural beauty are being encouraged to do more to protect the environment.

The initiative is aimed at hoteliers, guesthouse owners, artists and craftspeople from the Tees Valley up to Northumberland.

Key to its success is the Green Advantage scheme, which includes a one-day training course, developed by the English Tourism Council, the Countryside Agency and Milton Keynes College to help businesses become greener.

The programme is supported in the North-East by the Northumbria Tourist Board, the Countryside Agency, and partners including regional development agency One NorthEast, Hadrian's Wall Tourism Partnership, Hadrian Means Business Project and the Northumberland National Park Authority.

More than 50 proprietors, managers and employees from across all sectors of the North-East tourism industry have already undergone the training course, which introduces them to a Green Audit Kit -a tool which helps them assess their environmental performance.

Kim Hobson, sustainable tourism officer with Northumberland National Park Authority, which helped fund a recent course at Rothbury in Northumberland, outlined the course.

He said: "Delegates learn practical ways of reducing their impact on the environment through the principles of reduce, re-use and recycle.

"This can be as simple as using water butts and composting units outdoors and indoors, replacing light bulbs with low energy halogen versions and using liquid soap dispensers instead of individually-wrapped soaps.

"As well as saving money in the long-term, these simple measures can also be a strong selling point to environmentally-conscious visitors and the course spells out how businesses can market their green status."

Tim Cantle-Jones is a board member for One NorthEast and strategic lead for tourism in the region. He said: "The rural North-East is a unique selling point for tourism firms and I am pleased that there is such a desire from those who work in our countryside to learn more about it, protect it and ultimately benefit from it."

More information on rural initiatives is available by visiting the One NorthEast web page www.onenortheast.co.uk/rural