A £50,000 marketing campaign for Sunderland's newest tourist attraction has been approved.

Sunderland City Council's cabinet agreed to release money for the £13m Winter Gardens project at a meeting yesterday.

It will be used to fund advertising campaigns and a series of events to encourage the public to visit.

This is in addition to £10,000 a year already earmarked to promote the attraction.

The development will replace the original Victorian Winter Gardens, which were destroyed by a bomb during the Second World War.

It will include the refurbishment of Sunderland Museum and a revamp of Mowbray Park.

Plants and trees were delivered to the Winter Gardens last week, but the project faces a delay because the museum needs strengthening work.

A member of the Royal Family could carry out the opening, later in the year.