BUSINESSES in Darlington are being encouraged to celebrate the national day of love by dressing their windows for Valentine’s Day competition.

The scheme has been organised by business improvement district company Distinct Darlington, following on from the high level of interest in the Christmas window displays that were shared via their Facebook page.

Alex Hirst, manager of Distinct Darlington, said: “Similarly with the Christmas window displays, we wanted our town centre businesses to get involved with the Valentine's Day competition and help us to spread the word about their business.

“The businesses we featured on our Facebook page over Christmas, received a lot of free exposure and we felt that by asking businesses to take part in a simple window-dressing competition for Valentine’s Day it would be an ideal opportunity to increase the exposure for their business.”

The participating businesses will see photographs of their window displays posted on the Distinct Darlington Facebook page from Monday (February 8), as part of a 'Like and Share' competition, where followers will vote for their favourite.

There will also be the opportunity for one lucky follower to win a £100 love2shop voucher.

For more information visit www.facebook.com/DistinctDarlington