SHOPS, charities and business have embraced a new campaign to make access easier for disabled shoppers.

For its first ever year, 'Purple Tuesday' has been launched as the UK's accessible shopping day to support the one in five people who live with a disability or impairment.

The campaign said the collective spending power of those with a disability– dubbed the Purple Pound – is worth £249 billion to the UK economy, but is hampered by barriers that make it difficult for people to find work, spend money online and in store, and enjoy a drink or meal out.

To mark Purple Tuesday, organisations in Darlington gathered in the Dolphin Centre to talk about ways in which they work to make their services more accessible.

Katie Greenwood, Town Centre Partnership Officer for Darlington Borough Council, who organised the event, said: "It's all about approaching businesses to talk to them about the different things they can do to help and to make people aware of access to services in the town."

Some of the organisations involved in the event were Darlington Association on Disability (DAD), Citizen's Advice Darlington, Alzheimer's Society, Eden Mobility, Growing Old In Darlington (GOLD), and the Darlington Hippodrome.

Alan Davies, Generalist Advisor at Citizens Advice Darlington, said: “If we’re missing out on 20 per cent of the population because people can’t access our services then we are not providing the service that we as a charity should be doing.”