PRIME Minister Tony Blair forecast a bright new future for the North-East when he opened a state-of-the-art mailing centre in East Durham.

And as if to endorse the Prime Minister's rosy prediction bosses at the giant £6m MetroMail House in Peterlee revealed the factory now looked set to provide up to 400 new jobs.

Mr Blair's arrival at the complex, owned by the Saga Group, was heralded by a rousing tune from Horden Colliery Band.

And with a symbol of the region's industrial heritage - in the shape of Horden Colliery banner - fluttering behind him Mr Blair spoke from a platform dwarfed by the vast ultra modern factory floor.

He began by congratulating MetroMail and its workforce on the "fantastic achievement'' of tripling its operation.

But he reminded his audience that: "These are days of great changes in the North East. The traditional industries have gone."

The huge changes, he said, had brought difficult times to the region with high levels of unemployment. But while companies such as MetroMail had, he said, come a long way, the words on Horden's banner of "Our Future We Build from the Past" remained true to-day.

"There is now a great sense of optimism that we can build a future from our past and this factory is a visible testament to that. We have had some difficult times, we deserve some better ones," he said.

MetroMail's owners Saga Group first began in 1951 by offering affordable holidays on the South coast to retired people from the North-East.

Roger deHaan, the son of the founder and the company's chief executive, took the opportunity of the opening ceremony to announce an additional £1.5m investment in Peterlee to provide the very latest laser printing and enclosing equipment.

He told guests: "The investment in this new factory underlines Saga's belief that MetroMail will continue to go from strength to strength.

"Over the next 12 months we expect to create at least 40 new jobs to add to our staff of 180."

But after the ceremony Mr deHaan confirmed that the 90,000 sq ft site could well expand its workforce to 400.

He added: "MetroMail is now excellently positioned to be able to take further opportunities for growth, both MetroMail and Saga can now look forward with confidence."

Managing director of the factory, John Poland added: "The quality of the workforce here has been a major factor in our new success and the main reason that Saga has decided to invest in a new building, new equipment and new jobs."