AN east Durham company has earned a place among the country's top 100 most innovative organisations.

Pride Valley Foods, from Seaham, has been named in an index which includes the Eden Project and Easyjet.

Also singled out for places on the BT Vision 100 Index are Gateshead Borough Council and Sunderland City Council.

The scheme, originated by BT, identifies 100 innovative UK organisations which have achieved strategic goals through visionary activities over the past 12 months - regardless of size, age or sector.

Pride Valley Foods, on the Seaham Grange Industrial Estate, produces speciality breads, such as nans, pittas, chapattis and tortilla wraps.

It was founded in 1990 by Hossain Rezaei.

After developing a new manufacturing process his company expanded to a £10m turn over and now has a staff of 350.

Sunderland council has been acclaimed for its regeneration projects such as Mowbray Gardens which now includes a park, museum and art gallery, and the city's Winter Gardens, which celebrates the city's horticultural past.

Gateshead council has been hailed for using art as a tool for urban regeneration. It now has more than 30 public pieces of art on display in urban and rural settings, and its Angel of the North sculpture has become a symbol for the region.

The council is overseeing the £46m development of the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art and a £70m project which will include a music venue overlooking the Tyne.