A TEESSIDE woman was baptised in the river Tees at the weekend.

Norma Dooley, who has been attending the Stockton Baptist Church since she married a member just over a year ago, was immersed in the river Tees at Stockton to mark her joining the church.

Stockton Baptists open their new Tabernacle on Saturday, and will have the first two baptisms there on Sunday evening.

But rector's wife Liz Martin said that Mrs Dooley had chosen the river Tees over the new church for her christening because she liked the idea of it.

"People would originally have been baptised in rivers, just like Jesus was in the river Jordan," said Mrs Martin.

"We asked for permission to use the river last year because we had to move out of our church, which was compulsory purchased to build the new Wellington Street centre.

"We were in an office block and couldn't really fit the amount of water we needed in there, so we used the river instead. I think Norma really liked that idea - it is just like in the New Testament."

The Baptists have been using their new Tabernacle for about four weeks now, but the official opening takes place on Saturday.