IT may sound like a case of taking coals to Newcastle - but the region really is exporting wood to Scandinavia.

For the first time, the Forestry Commission is supplying 2,000 tonnes of timber to Denmark from its forests on the North York Moors, for use in wood-burning power plants.

The shipment, leave this weekend from Whitby, could open up an important market for the region.

Forestry Commission chief Andrew Smith said: "It's a very large consignment and represents about 100 lorry loads. The fact that our woods are certified as eco-friendly under the worldwide Forest Stewardship Council makes our timber doubly attractive.

"It is also bringing business into Whitby, which is good news for the local economy, and also better for the environment, as it reduces our need to haul timber by road over long distances."

Denmark is much further down the road with eco-friendly wood burning plants, but if the Baltic freezes over during the winter that could scupper its normal supplies from countries like Latvia and Estonia, opening up an opportunity for UK woods.

Every year, the North York Moors Forest District produces 100,000 tonnes of timber, mostly going towards chipboard, pallets and construction materials. The planting of a million trees each year means such output can be maintained indefinitely.

But while British timber makes inroads into Europe, there is still plenty coming in the opposite direction - Denmark is one of the UK's chief overseas suppliers of Christmas trees.