A TINY blue flower that grows almost exclusively in Upper Teesdale has been chosen as the floral emblem of County Durham.

The Spring Gentian (Gentiana verna) was voted the county's favourite flower in a survey by the wild plant conservation charity Plantlife International.

In neighbouring Yorkshire, some residents were surprised the Harebell was chosen as the county flower in preference to the traditional white rose.

After an initial vote, the choice for Durham's flower was shortlisted to the Spring gentian and the Bird's Eye Primrose.

Spring gentians inhabit short grass on stony slopes and flower from May to June. They have a deep blue flower and are 15mm to 20mm across.

Professor David Bellamy, of Bedburn, County Durham, who is president of Plantlife, said he was delighted.

He said: "It is absolutely fantastic. Durham was one of the few counties which had a plant that had to be the winner.

"Upper Teesdale is one of the most important botanical sites in the country. Not only is the gentian very rare, it is also very, very beautiful.

"It is found in Ireland and in Europe, but in Britain, it is only really found in Teesdale. It is Durham through and through."

However, the survey left one Teesdale resident puzzled. Jack Robinson, a staunch Yorkshireman, found himself living in County Durham when boundary changes in 1974 meant his Mickleton home was no longer part of Yorkshire.

He believes the flower of Yorkshire should be the white rose, especially because rival county Lancashire voted the red rose as their flower.

Mr Robinson said: "There is no replacing the white rose, it is Yorkshire through and through."

The County Flowers campaign was launched in 2002 as part of a Queen's Golden Jubilee project to highlight the fact that each county, on average, loses a wildflower species every year.

The bluebell attracted the most votes in the survey and was named as the flower of the UK.