FURTHER redevelopment is poised to create a friendlier gateway to Newcastle city centre.

The latest phase of the £120m Grainger Town Project will focus on the area opposite the Central Station, providing a "stylish cosmopolitan look" to a key entry-point for many visitors to the city.

It will be centred on Neville Street, with further work near the Bewick Street bus station complex and the surrounds of St Mary's Cathedral.

The latest stage of the regeneration project starts in June and will take 16 weeks to complete, at a cost of £800,000.

An additional £200,000 will be spent on Bewick Street and on a statue in memory of the former Roman Catholic leader, Cardinal Basil Hume, who was born in the city.

The project's aims include creating a friendlier approach to the city centre for pedestrians. Trees will be planted and public seating will be installed, but traffic along the busy Neville Street will remain largely unaffected.

It will also link the station and Grainger Town and help boost the Newcastle/Gateshead bid to become European Capital of Culture in 2008.

Many of the streets in Grainger Town, built by the architect and developer Richard Grainger in the 1830s and 40s, were rundown when the project began in 1997.

A joint effort, involving Newcastle City Council, One NorthEast, English Heritage, and English Partnerships, it is expected to help support 2,000 jobs and see more than 200 businesses established by completion next year.