Celebrities have given their culinary tips to help raise funds for the Red Cross.

Included in the recipe book, complied by the County Durham and Teesside branch of the charity, are dishes created by Peter Barron, the editor of The Northern Echo, Gary Lineker and Carol Vorderman. The book, priced at £3.99, will raise money for the charity.

Among the services the County Durham branch provides is a fire victim service for those who lose their homes and a service to transport patients to and from hospital.

A spokesman for the charity said: "We wrote to a lot of famous people to ask for their favourite recipes. We were pleased with the response."

The book is on sale from Red Cross offices and shops in the region, or by calling (01388) 604074.

Two of the recipes from the book:

Carol Smillie's salmon, bean sprouts and mange-tout

Method: Sear two fillets of salmon in a hot pan. Put them in an ovenproof dish and cover with a jar of Sharwood's lime honey and ginger sauce. Put in oven for ten minutes.

Stir fry the bean sprouts and mange-tout and arrange salmon on top of the dish.

Tanni Grey-Thomspon's spicy prawn casserole

Ingredients:

220g prawns per person, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 onion, 3 cloves of garlic, 2 chillies, 1 tin tomatoes, 4oz mushrooms, 2oz rice per person, feta cheese, cardamom pods, fresh basil.

Method: Cook mushrooms for 20 minutes. Chop onions, chilli and garlic and fry in olive oil. Add other ingredients, leaving fish until last. Gently simmer on hob for 15 minutes, add cheese for last five minutes.

Cook rice, add cardamom pods and garnish with basil.