PEOPLE in the North-East are the nation's biggest culture vultures with their love of art, a poll revealed.
They spend £29.6m each year buying original artistic works, and were the most frequent visitors to museums and galleries.
Nine out of ten people in the region have visited an art exhibition, gallery or museum in the past 12 months.
More than 50 per cent of those asked saw an exhibition at least every six months, the survey for PizzaExpress Prospects 2003 found.
Prospects is a national contemporary art prize, now in its fourth year, and its poll questioned 600 people across the UK.
The majority of North-Easterners - 56 per cent - pursue artistic pastimes, with 27 per cent regularly involved in photography and 17 per cent opting for painting.
But the dalliance with art is not solely confined to the North-East - last year people in the UK spent £6.7bn on art, an average of £180 per person.
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