Salford City Council has appointed six north west agencies to its design roster.

Air and Carbon Creative, both based in Salford, Manchester's Creative Lynx and Creative Spark, October in Liverpool and Stockport's Origin were appointed after a tender process.

They were whittled down from 45 applicants and the contracts run from June this year to March 2012.

The council's record of decision shows there is an option to extend the contract by a further 12 months "dependent on satisfactory service provision, consistent quality of product and maintenance of competitive unit costs".

The appointments come "at an approximate cost of £549,621 over a 34 month contract period" and will rise to "£743,605"  if they are extended by 12 months.