THE North-South divide is narrowing, Bank of England governor Mervyn King told The Northern Echo last year.

But the Government clearly thinks it is still an issue. In its Northern Way strategy, published six months ago, it devised ways of narrowing the multi-billion pound gap between North and South.

The report identified the upgrading of rail links to Teesport from the East Coast Main Line so the port could capitalise on the growing trade in container traffic.

But yesterday, PD Ports demonstrated that concerns remain that the South will be developed at the expense of the North.

Director Martin Pellew said that if three port developments - at Felixstowe South, Bathside Bay and Shellhaven - were allowed to go ahead before the Government devised a ports strategy for the UK, it would "seriously damage" the North and North-East's opportunities.

The Government has said it would have no decision on the ports until autumn, and that it would not formulate a strategy until then. PD Ports wants to speed up the process.

A national ports strategy would allow northern ports to take a share of container traffic from the Far East, rather than it all going to the South, putting more lorries on the roads.

PD also wants government funding to improve rail links for freight between Teesside and Darlington.

A survey by the GMB union showed the South-East has more manufacturing workers than anywhere else in the UK, and about three-times as many as the North-East, a telling statistic.

The Tees was once at the centre of Teesside's industrial revolution and has been a key driver of traditional manufacturing industries in the region, including steel and chemicals.

But with the decline of the manufacturing sector, highlighted by yesterday's GMB survey, Teesport needs to look for new opportunities.

Today, Teesport is the second-largest freight-handling port in Britain.

But this is mainly due to the cargo it handles for steelmaker Corus, Boulby potash mine, and the thriving chemical sector.

There are plans to open a distrubution centre for Walmart owner Gazeley, at Redcar, east Cleveland, and for a retail distribution centre on the north side of the river at Hartlepool.

Owner PD Ports' plan to invest £300m in a deep sea container terminal will see more retailers using the port to import goods from the Far East for distribution all over northern Britain and south as far as the Midlands.

It will open distribution centres at the port, creating 3,000 jobs and 4,000 port-related vacancies, which PD Ports hopes will be filled by people living in some of the deprived areas that neighbour the port.

PD Ports says that if its investment can go ahead, it would improve the economic wellbeing of the region and take lorries off the roads, thereby reducing polution and congestion in an already gridlocked road network.

Mr Pellew said: "We want support from the local MPs, the business community and all the Government offices.

"We have good transport links via road and we would have trains going from here to the Midlands and Manchester, instead of lorries coming up from the South, cutting down on massive road congestion all over the country."

Mr Pellew said that the future of Corus' Teesside Cast Products division would also be more secure if the Government pledged to invest in rail improvements on Teesside.

Next year, 2.7 million tonnes of steel will be exported from Teesport's steel terminal for Corus, but the most it has coped with so far is one million tonnes in a year. Improved rail facilities at the port would make it easier to handle the increase.

Teesport also has plenty of brownfield land, ripe for development - unlike ports in the South, such as Southampton, which recently had an expansion plan turned down by the Government because it was planning to build on the New Forest, which would create environmental chaos.

The Northern Echo campaign, Support Our Port, will rally backing from everyone in the region for PD Ports' expansion plan in the run-up to the General Election. With support from businesses, and local people putting pressure on their MPs, thousands of jobs could be secured.