The North-South divide in British prosperity has been highlighted by a new survey which show people in the North-East earn thousands less than their counterparts in London.

Londoners' household incomes were 22 per cent above the UK average, while the North-East lagged behind, according to the provisional figures.

Household income per head in London was £17,900 in 1999 with the UK average being £14,684.

The North-East trailed in last with average earnings of just £12,056. Incredibly, the average household income for a London couple living with two income-earning children would be £71,600.

For 1999, in the North East, average household income per head was just £12,056, in the North West it was £13,409 and in Northern Ireland it was £11,991.

Those figures mean in the North East and Northern Ireland household income per head around was 18 per cent below the average for that year.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiled the report which could spark renewed claims of a North-South prosperity divide in the UK.

But David Vincent, head of regional accounts at ONS, said: ''We don't account for the cost of living because of lack of information presently available.

''You cannot draw the conclusion from these statistics that people in London are necessarily significantly richer than those in the North East.''

Asked whether the wealth gap was widening, he said: ''I would not like to say that.

''The variation within the regions is greater than variation perhaps between North and South.''

Spending among individuals was also much higher in London than it was in the North-East. Individual consumption expenditure in the capital was 24 per cent higher than the UK average, while in the North-East it was 19 per cent lower than the average.

The total expenditure figure for London was £89.2 million while in the North-East it was £20.7 million.