NORTH-EAST landowner Lord Barnard has backed a set of proposals to attract thousands of tourists to the region.

The owner of Raby Castle and Estates, in County Durham, described two planned schemes around the River Tees, near Barnard Castle, as "interesting and exciting".

The first project under consideration involves building a suspension bridge across the Tees, based on the world-famous Capilano bridge, in Vancouver, Canada.

The plan was suggested by members of Teesdale Marketing during a meeting of the Teesdale Market Towns Initiative, which is looking at ways of boosting tourism in the dale in the wake of the foot-and-mouth epidemic.

The most recent scheme to be suggested is for a two-mile waterway to be built on a stretch of the Tees running through Barnard Castle, to be used by pleasure boats.

Lord Barnard, who along with his son, Harry Vane the Younger, owns much of the Tees around Barnard Castle, said both projects seemed ambitious, but appealing.

He said: "Both projects seem to be in their very early stages, especially the suggested plan to build a waterway, which I do not know a great deal about, although it does seem interesting.

"My only concern would be that it might suffer from the fact that the river rises and falls regularly on that stretch, near the castle.

"The bridge scheme is especially appealing, and my son, Harry, who owns the land where they are planning to build the bridge, is very interested.

"I look forward to finding out more about the schemes."