A NORTH-EAST council raked in more than £1m from other councils, hospitals and housing associations last year, figures have revealed.

Darlington Borough Council generated £1.08m from contracting out its services such as nursery-grown plants, asbestos removal and building and grounds maintenance.

Councils in Newton Aycliffe, Ferryhill, Chester-le-Street, Easington, the city of Durham, Hartlepool, Peterlee, Redcar and Cleveland, Richmond and Spennymoor were among the groups which bought £279,000 worth of plants from Darlington Council's Woodburn Plant Nursery.

Among the biggest orders was £56,375-worth of flowers and plants bought by Hartlepool Borough Council.

Hartlepool also bought almost £100,000-worth of building maintenance from Darlington according to the figures, which are to be discussed by Darlington council's cabinet next week.

In total, Darlington carried out nearly £700,000 worth of orders for building maintenance at places including Teesside University, Darlington Memorial Hospital and the University Hospital of North Tees, in Stockton.

The biggest customers were Coast and Country Housing and Middlesbrough Council who bought £196,396 and £133,214 of building maintenance services respectively. The cash raked in by the contracting wing of the council has increased massively from 2003/2004, when it was about £625,000.

And on top of the growth this year, was a contract to build the Walk-In Centre in King Street, Darlington, which was valued at almost £1.4m.

Despite making money by hiring out its services, a spokesman for Darlington council said the council did not pay out a penny to other councils.

He said when other councils started cutting services to save money, council bosses saw potential to make money.

Don Bristow, cabinet member for resources, said: "We provide excellent services at competitive rates which is what our customers want.

"Winning external contracts brings in revenue for Darlington and also helps to create jobs for local people."