PROGRESS on a ground-breaking blueprint to bridge the North-South divide will be unveiled today.

Officials working on the Northern Way Growth Strategy will discuss progress at two meetings - the first at Newcastle Racecourse, today, and then at Hardwick Hall Hotel, in Sedgefield, tomorrow.

The strategy - designed to bridge the £29bn productivity gap between the North and the rest of England - was first outlined earlier this year by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, backed by £100m.

Central to the strategy is the idea that future economic growth will be driven by eight city regions, including the Tyne and Wear conurbation and also the Tees Valley.

The Government now views the strategy as having even greater importance for policy towards the North-East, following the region's decisive rejection of a directly-elected assembly at the referendum held earlier this month, and is designed to operate hand-in-hand with the Regional Spatial Strategy unveiled by the North-East Assembly earlier this week.

Over the next few days, senior representatives of regional development agency One NorthEast, Newcastle City Council and the Tees Valley Partnership will detail progress to date on the Northern Way.

One NorthEast chief executive Alan Clarke, who is also chairman of The Northern Way task group overseeing ongoing work on the strategy, said: "It is essential that as many of our partners as possible in the private and public sector are engaged with this process.

"The Northern Way has entered a key phase in formulating a business plan to allow its recommendations to be taken forward and is progressing the concept of city regions to drive forward new economic growth."

An action plan outlining ways of moving the strategy forward will be delivered to Mr Prescott in January.