A NEW era of development is under way at a North-East airport with more than £30m being provided for improvements.

Airport bosses have decided to radically revamp Teesside International Airport - due to be renamed Durham-Tees Valley Airport - over the next five years.

But residents in nearby Middleton St George, near Darlington, have reservations about the changes that promise to bring the airport into the 21st Century.

The airport's managing director, Hugh Lang, and Gordon Smith, of GA Consultancy, held talks about the airport's future in the village on Tuesday night.

This year, £5m is being spent on improvements, with the old one-way access road being replaced by a six-lane route with bus and taxi facilities and £1.8m invested in the terminal.

Mr Lang said the work would bring the building up to the same standards as Newcastle and Leeds airports.

"When people arrive at the airport at the moment it is not particularly attractive and they won't think the region is doing well," said Mr Lang.

"But with these upgrades, people will get a feeling that they are coming into a place of prosperity."

Long-term investment of £20m over the next five years is coming from Peel Airports, which has a 75 per cent share- holding in Teesside Airport.

There will also be £12m from public funding and input from One NorthEast, English Partnerships, Tees Valley Regeneration and local authorities.

But with a forecasted 1.3 million passengers a year by 2006 and further development proposed over a 15 to 30-year period, residents have voiced their concerns about the environmental impact and an increase in night flying, noise and low flying.

Mr Lang said the developments would improve the local economy, provide jobs across the region and operate under stringent environmental controls.