A £300M investment at Teesport could almost wipe out the area's unemployment problems, Redcar MP Vera Baird said last night.

Owner PD Ports wants to invest the cash to create a deep-sea container terminal on the River Tees, which would take thousands of lorries off the roads and bring 7,000 jobs to the North-East.

But it is lobbying the Government to create a ports strategy to ensure that southern ports do not expand at the expense of those in the North.

Three planning applications have been lodged for expansion at the congested southern ports of Felixstowe, Harwich and London - and the Government has said it will not devise a national ports strategy until those applications have been decided in the autumn.

But PD Ports wants the Government to stop any further expansion in the South and speed up its planning process to bring the jobs to the North-East. Its lobbying is being backed by The Northern Echo through our Support our Port campaign.

Ms Baird said: "This is a highly ambitious plan which I support one thousand per cent.

"It could very nearly solve our unemployment problems.

"There will be an unlimited opportunity for jobs at all levels, because it would mean not only the 7,000 immediate jobs but warehouses, distribution areas, and more factories around the river mouth."

There was support from all parts of Teesside yesterday.

Ray Mallon, Mayor of Middlesbrough, said the plan could also help the South by easing road congestion and pollution.

He said: "This is perhaps the single most important step the Government can take if it is serious in its commitment to closing the financial output gap between the North and South.

"The region is not asking for charity, just a level playing field. I commend The Northern Echo for its stance on this issue and intend to lobby with vigour politicians and Government officials who can influence this decision."

Alistair Arkley, chairman of the Northern Business Forum, said: "PD Ports' plan would bring good-quality jobs and sustainable work - not assembly line work being brought in by foreign investors.

"It is a local company, a fully-listed public company, one of the few in the North-East, and it is prepared to put substantial investment in. I am very strongly in favour of it."

Dari Taylor, MP for Stockton South, said: "The fact that we have a port here with a tremendous amount of brownfield land for development, such a short sailing time from the mouth to the port and which can turn around containers so quickly, all shows what an incredibly, professional operation it is.

"For me, the icing on the cake is that we are talking about thousands of jobs and we are looking at the port in terms of the development reducing the North-South divide.

"I am hopeful I am going to be in there lobbying the Government minister over this."