THE owner of the North-East's largest port is campaigning for the Government to help finance an investment of £300m that will create up to 7,000 jobs and transform the fortunes of the region.

PD Ports is hoping to make the multi-million pound investment to develop a deep-water container terminal on the River Tees, allowing traffic from Asia and the Far East to dock and unload.

But the Government is considering giving permission to three crowded southern ports to develop similar facilities.

Now PD Ports is calling for it to develop a ports strategy that will allow more investment in the North rather than overdeveloping an already prosperous South-East.

The Government has said it will not outline a ports strategy until it has decided on the three southern applications - which PD Ports argues will seriously damage the North-East.

The Northern Echo is backing Teesport's argument for Government support for the jobs and investment - which could happen within three years - as part of a new campaign, Support Our Port.

Martin Pellew, group development director at PD Ports, said he hoped the Government would endorse the plan in line with its Northern Way strategy, which is designed to close the North's £29bn output gap with the South.

Yesterday, a GMB union survey showed that the South-East had the most manufacturing employees - 693,000. The North-East trailed behind with only 213,000, following the haemorrhaging of manufacturing jobs in recent years.

If the Tees becomes the UK's newest deep-water terminal, it will also reduce road congestion because more containers will move by sea rather than motorway.

Mr Pellew is holding a series of meetings with local MPs, regional development agency One NorthEast and council officials to rally support for the company's plan.

He is campaigning for the Government to invest about £25m in rail links between Teesside and the East Coast Mainline, in Darlington.

Mr Pellew said: "The proposal is good for the North. More jobs equal more homes, better schools, and a more prosperous area.

"But Teesport needs the support of local politicians and all Government offices to make this investment.

"We need the Government to fast-track our planning application for the deep sea container terminal.

"We are not asking them for big money. We are not asking them to make people redundant in the South, just asking for them to stop the South expanding any more.

"This signals a £300m investment, which could add £500m to the region's economic output - going some way to closing the massive gap with the South."

George Cowcher, chief executive of the North-East Chamber of Commerce, said: "The chamber backs 100 per cent the efforts of PD Ports to invest, innovate and create wealth and jobs for the Tees Valley and wider North-East.

"This initiative encapsulates the drive and determination needed to put this region on the map.

"The Northern Way initiative has stressed the importance of better links within the UK and the wider world. This will open doors that have been firmly closed."

Dr Ashok Kumar, MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, said: "I have had a meeting with PD Ports and I am very supportive of what they are trying to do - it's a very impressive bid.

"A whole new renaissance is needed for the area, but in the end it is up to Government ministers working within policies that have been laid down."