A businesswoman has been chosen as the Liberal Democrats' Teesside candidate for the general election.

Linda Parrish, of Nunthorpe, Middlesbrough, will stand as the party's prospective parliamentary candidate in the latest poll.

Mrs Parrish, who is is married with four grown up children, has lived in the area for 40 years. She was educated at Laurence Jackson School in Guisborough.

In 1997, she started a bed and breakfast business and small conference centre at the family home. She also runs a mail order and Internet toy business with her husband and daughter, exporting all over the world.

She is a member of the action group Revolt and has been actively involved in the battle against the new pylon route from Lackenby to York