COUNCIL officials and their European counterparts are to look at ways of increasing use of the River Tees for recreation and tourism.

Stockton Borough Council and a group of authorities in the Netherlands, Germany and Sweden have won European Community money from a new fund for a project called Water City International.

The project aims to look at ways of encouraging use of waterways in urban areas, and will see the authorities pooling their experiences and sharing ideas and best practice.

Stockton is getting about £97,000 over four years from a European fund, Interreg 111B, designed to foster co-operation and collaboration between authorities and bodies in different countries on sustainable development projects.

Tim Gibson, the council's development manager for regeneration and economic development, said: "We are looking to rejuvenate the Tees Corridor, and the European partners have similar initiatives.

"The lead authority is Leeuwarden, in Holland, and they are looking at water quality, public art and getting visitor interest, which is what we are looking at on the Tees.

"The project will help us see if we can learn from them and them from us.''

A small amount of money could be available for implementation of ideas, but Mr Gibson said: "The main thing is swapping ideas.''

The once heavily-polluted Tees has been cleaned up in recent years - there are salmon in it - and developments including the Tees Barrage have encouraged leisure and sports use.

"We want to take that on and develop it. We want to make it more of a regionally-known landmark,'' Mr Gibson said.

The Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive and Sunderland City Council are part of a consortium led by a Norwegian council that will look at improving public transport in small to medium-sized cities.

The authorities hope that their Hi-Trans project will counter the growth of car travel in those cities. They also hope to look at alternatives, including guided busways and light rail systems.

The Government Office for the North-East, One North East and Association of North-East Councils held a seminar yesterday to encourage Interreg applications.

Caroline Burden, a team leader at the Government Office for the North-East, said: "It is a way of getting money into the region for environmental and sustainable projects."