A DEAL has been signed to trigger £90m of investment in the Tees Valley and create hundreds of jobs.

Local Growth Minister Penny Mordaunt visited the region to officially sanction a Growth Deal at Tees Valley Unlimited Local Enterprise Partnership (TVU).

Bosses say the funding will be used in the next five years to create jobs by focusing on innovation, transport, infrastructure, skills and business support.

They revealed the Growth Deal will see £90.3m spent in Tees Valley, including £22.9m in the first year, with the Government providing an indicative award of a further £67.4m from 2016 onwards.

They added projects, expected to start from 2015, will help to create up to 1,000 jobs, up to 1,500 additional training places, build up to 1,500 new homes, and generate about £100m in public and private investment.

Key features include an investment to create a new oil and gas academy at Redcar and Cleveland College and improve transport links on the A689 at Wynyard, near Billingham.

It also aims to boost access to the Central Park Enterprise Zone, in Darlington, which is where the Centre for Process Innovation is building multi-million pound medical innovation centres.

Councillor Bill Dixon, Darlington Borough Council leader and TVU vice-chairman, said: “The unlocking of £90m worth of investment will help us to build a stronger economy.”

Ms Mordaunt added: “This will deliver real benefits to local firms and is great news for the Tees Valley.”

She added the Tees Valley Growth Deal is part of a £12bn long-term Government programme to revitalise local economies.