A NORTH-EAST professor is leading a £20m research project into the future of Britain's countryside.

Professor Philip Lowe, of Newcastle University, will run the five-year Rural Economy and Land Use (Relu) programme.

"Relu will address the complex and critical issues which face the British countryside," he said.

The initiative aims to provide the Government with an insight into the pressures facing the rural environment.

Prof Lowe holds Newcastle University's Duke of North-umberland Chair of Rural Economy and recently received an OBE for services to the rural economy.