RESIDENTS are invited to join in Chinese New Year celebrations on Friday.

And those attending the fun at the University of Teesside, in Middlesbrough, can enjoy a double bill of celebrations.

Members of the Students' Union Tae Kwon Do Club will perform the first of two lion dances around the campus on Friday.

And a group of children attending a Chinese School in the town will perform a traditional fan dance.

The Lancashire Lion Dance Group will cross the Pennines to join in the celebrations.

The group of 15 to 17-year-olds came third in the British Lion Dance Championships.

There will also be a display of martial arts.

The event has been put together by the Students' Union Tae Kwon Do Club and Interlink Society.

Vicki Putson, societies and recreation officer of the union, said: "The Interlink Society is made up of international university students and they have come together with the Tae Kwon Do Club to celebrate the coming of a new year.

"This comes at a time when the need to unite people from different cultural backgrounds, to foster understanding and mutual respect is so important to the future peace of the world."