THE Government is considering radical regeneration proposals to unlock £2bn for shattered Teesside steel communities, The Northern Echo can reveal.

Regeneration chiefs have put together a package of measures since last week's announcement by Corus that it is to axe 6,000 jobs - including more than 1,000 on Teesside.

The blueprint for prosperity was handed to ministers last week.

An aid package had been expected earlier, but the Government held off while Corus reconsidered its announcement.

The Anglo-Dutch group has agreed a two-week freeze on its cost-cutting plans, and unions hope to persuade bosses to change their mind.

While the Government stands ready to help, it is reluctant to make any announcement until all hope has gone.

Although exact details are a closely-guarded secret, The Northern Echo understands they include:

l Up to £500m for site clearance and regeneration

l Cash for new rail and road links

l Wind farms

l A paper mill

l Reclamation of the long-awaited Middlehaven docklands site in Middlesbrough.

Officials believe the plans will help transform areas that have been worst affected by the Corus cut-backs, creating work and prosperity.

The Middlehaven plans envisage houses, offices, hotel and leisure facilities, along with a major visitor attraction. Optimistic forecasts say the project could create up to 3,000 jobs.

Jonathan Blackie, director of strategy at regional development agency One NorthEast, said: "The Corus announcement wasn't just another set of job losses. It was much more than simply another factory closure.

"The big issue is the long-term future of areas like Teesside."

Development agency chairman John Bridge said he and officials were talking with the Government on a daily basis.

Dr Bridge said: "The Government is fully aware there is a requirement to develop a response commensurate with the size and nature of the problem."

Privately, regeneration bosses among councils and partnership groups across the Tees Valley concede theirs is a wish list aimed at righting decades of neglect and over-reliance on a narrow range of industries.

"What actually gets done is another matter," said one.

And they are at pains not to raise the hopes of people in a part of the region all too used to knock-backs.

Alistair Arkley, chairman of the Tees steel taskforce and the Tees Valley Partnership - which represents local authorities across the area - would say only that the regeneration plans were with the Government.

"We are awaiting a response from Government, but understand that people need to give it due consideration before a decision is made, " he said.

Steel officials and council leaders met yesterday for a summit meeting over the Corus crisis. The main item was a possible bid by the unions to take over the doomed coil plate mill at Lackenby, which has been selected for closure.

Tony Poynter, chairman of the multi-union steel committee at Teesside works, said: "We had good discussions and the outcome was a possible adjustment of business rates, which reflects our view that we would like to see the coil plate mill kept open.

"We also discussed the economic impact on the area. They are also willing to enter discussions with Corus to vacate land they own to develop new jobs in the area."

l Jonathan Blackie, director of strategy at One NorthEast, is a guest on today's Alan Wright programme on BBC Radio Cleveland, which has received hundreds of calls from listeners since the steel crisis began