A BLUEPRINT to create 2,500 jobs through the expansion of a North-East airport was unveiled yesterday.

The £56m plan will see a major overhaul at Durham Tees Valley Airport, including the creation of a hotel, air freight operation and business park.

Airport managing director Hugh Lang said: "This is a massively important development for the Tees Valley and the surrounding areas of North Yorkshire and Durham."

Peel Airports, which owns a controlling interest in the site, has submitted planning applications to Darlington and Stockton borough councils.

The scheme must win approval from both authorities, which also own shares in the airport.

Without expansion, the airport will hit full passenger capacity of 1.2 million by 2007. If it goes ahead, bosses hope this will rise to three million by 2015.

The airport employs about 750 people and is estimated to indirectly support a further 190 to 260 jobs. The plans aim to lift the number directly employed by 2,500 within a decade, pumping £120m-a-year into the regional economy and supporting hundreds more external jobs.

The plans come on the back of another boom year for Durham Tees Valley, as it attracted business from low cost airlines bmibaby, Eastern Airways and Ryanair.

This year, it will also introduce services to Paris and Cork.

The application is not due before the councils' planning committee until March at the earliest.

In Darlington, councillors are expected to make a decision by early summer.

The council is to send letters about the proposals to every household in nearby villages.

People living in nearby Middleton St George are worried the scheme will have a major impact on their quality of life.

Councillor Doris Jones, chairwoman of Middleton St George Parish Council and borough ward councillor, said: "I am all in favour of expansion of the airport and the creation of new jobs.

"But we need to look very closely at the detail. I am particularly concerned about noise pollution, air quality and traffic."

A copy of the plans is available for viewing at the airport's information desk.