A new species of butterfly could be attracted to County Durham if plans by Darlington Wildlife Group are a success.

With support from staff at Marks and Spencer the group is planning to plant buckthorn bushes throughout the town to attract brimstone butterflies (Gonepteryx rhamni).

Buckthorn is the food plant of brimstone caterpillars and they cannot breed without it.

Cliff Evans, of Darlington Wildlife Group, a local group of Durham Wildlife Trust, said: "We get brimstones flying through the county, but we don't get them breeding here. Hopefully, they will start to breed if they have food plants. That is the theory."

Bushes will be planted by the wildlife group at Drinkfield Marsh and The Whinnies nature reserves, and along the River Skerne corridor, where much work has already been carried out to improve the wildlife habitat, later in the year.

The £100 needed to buy the plants was raised by staff at Marks and Spencer, who recycled coat hangers, which would otherwise have been given to customers.

Sales advisor Linda Wright said assistants asked customers if they wanted to leave the hangers for recycling and they were collected in large boxes. The fundraisers were paid £1 for each full box. She said: "It is not easy work to raise the money. You get quite a lot of hangers in a box."