FAMOUS faces will take their hats off to raise awareness of mental health issues at an exhibition on Teesside.

Judi Dench, Hugh Grant, Ewan McGregor, Victoria Beckham, the band Coldplay and Cherie Blair are among those featuring in photographs in the Hats Off exhibition.

The display will run at Hartlepool Art Gallery from Saturday, January 8, to Sunday, February 27.

The photographs by award-winning photographer Jason Bell features the celebrities taking their hats off in tribute to the courage of those people who have mental health problems but who continue to lead positive lives.

The exhibition aims to persuade people to stop keeping any mental health issues they have "under their hat" but to bring it out into the open.

The exhibition has been loaned to the gallery by mentality, a charity dedicated to promoting awareness mental health.

Carole Johnson, health development team leader at Hartlepool NHS Primary Care Trust, said: "Studies show that as many as one in six adults and one in ten children suffer from mental health problems at any time and the exhibition was designed to raise awareness of this."

Entry is free, and the exhibition is open from 10am to 5.30pm on Tuesday to Saturdays and from 2pm to 5pm on Sundays. It is closed on New Year's Day.