THE North-East could benefit from more than £450m worth of transport improvements if the Government approves a wish-list of recommended schemes for the region.

Representatives from groups such as the North-East Assembly, the Association of North-East Councils and the North-East Chamber of Commerce have spent the past year building a case for a number of priority schemes to be presented to the Department for Transport.

However, senior figures involved in the discussions said that even if the schemes were given approval, it represented only a "starting point" and they said they will continue to press the case for greater resources for the North-East.

Schemes for which approval is being sought include:

l The £12m Eastern Transport Corridor project in Darlington, linking Haughton Road with the A66 and providing access to the Central Park regeneration project.

l A £16m plan to improve accessibility from the Hartington Interchange on the A66 into north Middlesbrough.

l Junction improvements totalling £158m to solve congestion bottlenecks along the A19 and into Tyneside.

l A £10m link road between Wheatley Hill and Bowburn, connecting the A1(M) and A181.

l A £33m restructuring of the bus network in the Tees Valley area and provision for better bus routes linking County Durham's main towns.

About £65m could also be spent to relieve congestion on river crossings in Sunderland and to provide better links between the A19 and the Port of Sunderland.

In December 2004, the Government announced that each region across the country would be given money to spend, subject to approval, on transport, housing and economic development.

But critics said the North-East's transport allocation - about £43m a year over the next ten years - is not enough and said the criteria on which it is based were unfair.

Durham County Council leader Councillor Ken Manton, who is a member of the Interim Regional Transport Board, set up to decide how the money is spent, said: "As a region, we must continue to press the case for greater resources for transport schemes of strategic importance."

Fellow board member George Cowcher, the chief executive of the North East Chamber of Commerce, said: "It has been a challenge to meet the foreseeable transport needs of the region from this limited budget.

"It is, however, disappointing at this time not to be able to announce solutions to the problems with the A1 on Tyneside, and improvements to strategic roads connecting the region to the north and west, the A1 and A66."

A spokeswoman for the Department for Transport said submissions would be considered in due course