A CAMPAIGN was under way last night to repeat the success of a "Proms in the Park" event which has been described as a huge boost to the image of the North-East.

Thousands of people turned out in the centre of Middlesbrough on Saturday night after the town was chosen as one of five satellite locations for the BBC's Last Night of the Proms.

It was seen as a major coup for the Tees Valley, and the firework finale which formed the climax to the event had barely ended when work started on staging a repeat performance.

The live coverage, beamed into millions of homes across the country, could prove to be priceless as the North-East tries to shed its image of being a cultural void.

Paperwork has already begun in compiling a bid for a return visit with letters being sent to key partners over the weekend.

Julia Frater, head of the visitTeesvalley, said: "We are already looking at getting it back to the area and the BBC and the sponsors seemed really impressed.

"It was an excellent atmosphere and we will be pushing as hard as we can to bring the event back to the Tees Valley.

"We couldn't have asked for anything better in terms of raising the profile of Middlesbrough and the Tees Valley.

"We have proved that we can hold events of this kind of calibre, and now we need to go all out to prove we can do it again."

The event was a spectacular culmination of months of hard work and campaigning to get the Proms to the Tees Valley.

The attendance for the Proms in the Park - the first time it has been held on Teesside - was 5,582.

Opera singer Suzannah Clarke, who trained with Pavarotti's tutor in Italy, and was a leading campaigner to get the event in the town, said it would help change the region's image.

She said: "This success will go a long way to dispel the myth that there is no market for high-profile cultural events in the region. It proves that there is not a cultural void in the Tees Valley.

"We have got to try to ensure we get it back again, because seeing the enjoyment that the audience got from the show more than vindicates the effort we put in to get it here in the first place."

Councillor David Budd, Middlesbrough Council's executive member for regeneration and culture, said the success of the Proms was another step along the road of changing people's preconceptions of the area.

He said: "There is no way of measuring the benefits that the Proms will bring to the Tees Valley, but it showed that we are up there with the big cities for being able to host major cultural events.

"The setting for the event was spectacular - with mima (Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art) and the newly rejuvenated town square proving to be ideal.

"The coverage the town received can only be good for everyone.

"Let's hope this is just the first of many such events."

Organising the event involved the majority of the region's leading arts and culture agencies.

Stella Hall, creative director of NewcastleGateshead Initiative, said: "It was a fantastic evening, not just for Middlesbrough but also the whole of North-East.

"It will help to build on our growing reputation nationally for our world-class festivals and events programme and sending out the strongest message that the region is a great place to both live and visit."

Alison Clark-Jenkins, director of arts and development for the Arts Council England, North-East, said: "It was wonderful to see such a huge audience experiencing live music of this quality and to see Middlesbrough and the region take centre stage in an event which is at the heart of our national culture."

Ray Mallon, Mayor of Middlesbrough, said: "Five years ago, I stated that I wanted to make Middlesbrough a designer label town and people laughed.

"The same people are not laughing now, they are smiling because Middlesbrough is on the map for all the right reasons."

He added: "We have to compete with Newcastle by being different, and the North-East has to compete with the rest of the country by being different.

"I would welcome the return of Proms in the Park. We have to build on this success.