THREE charities have benefited from the Durham Shopping Extravaganza, held at the Ramside Hall Hotel, near Durham, in October.

The event raised £19,000 and this year's beneficiaries were Darlington's St Teresa's Hospice, the Durham Agency Against Crime and the Rainbow Trust, which each received £6,000 at a presentation at the Ramside yesterday.

The remainder of the cash will be distributed to smaller charities in the region.

Joint chairwoman of the shopping extravaganza, Jayne Cook, said: "Since we started 18 years ago we have raised more than a quarter of a million pounds for charities in the region."

This year's event was sponsored by Barclays, Northern Rock, solicitors Blackett, Hart and Pratt and Sherwoods of Darlington.