INSPIRED by the sunny streets of Portugal, a colourful display of umbrellas is proving a hit with shoppers.

Dubbed 'umbrella street', the attraction at the Prince Bishops Shopping Centre in Durham, which will be in place until October, has so far proved popular with visitors.

Since they were installed in mid June, visitors to the city centre have been sharing their snaps of them on social media, while shopping centre manager Richard Toynbee said there had also been a 16 per cent increase in footfall since they made an appearance.

He said: "Umbrella street is our summer installation and we hope to have it in place until October. It is designed to brighten up our cloudy days, use it as a symbol to celebrate anything you want, or just enjoy it, we certainly do.

"We are planning to build on the success of the Umbrella Street installation and introduce regular features that our customers can enjoy – it’s important to us that we add a unique touch to the Prince Bishops Shopping Centre experience.”

The installation was inspired by a similar public art display in Aqueda in Portugal, which has been copied in towns and cities worldwide.

Mr Toynbee said a number of tests were carried out a number of tests last year to work out how to install the umbrellas and ensure they appear to float.

Elsewhere, colourful umbrella displays have been used to raise awareness about ADHD and autism, as part of the Umbrella Project.