RECYCLING glass bottles could soon send one lucky family on a £3,000 sunshine holiday.

When residents across Tees Valley put their empty bottles in the recycling box, they can write their name and address on a coupon, provided at every home, and put it in one of the bottles.

The five Tees Valley councils, Middlesbrough, Stockton, Redcar and Cleveland, Hartlepool and Darlington, are attempting to encourage more people to take up recycling with the Message in a Bottle competition.

There will be a weekly draw at each of the councils' recycling centres for £50 worth of holiday vouchers. At the end of the 12-week scheme, a draw involving all the weekly winners will be made.

The winner will be able to collect their bottle from a beach of their choice - up to the value of £3,000.

The scheme will be paid for through a £58,000 grant from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council's cabinet member for environmental improvement, Councillor Bob Stanway, said: "We are already delighted with how our residents are responding to the recycling challenge.

"Now, we all believe there's another great incentive to recycle with this idea. I think it is a great scheme and I am looking forward to congratulating all our winners."

The first winners will be drawn at the end of the month.