THE Government has been called on to resurrect plans for a major rail freight depot which could create 11,000 jobs in the region.

Durham City Council wants to rescue plans for the Tursdale Rail Freight Facility, near Bowburn, County Durham, which the Government wants dropped from the Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS).

The Northern Echo, in its Shaping the Future campaign, is asking the Government to rethink its proposed changes to the RSS, a key document setting out the priorities for the region's economy.

The Tursdale depot would cover 480 acres and act as an interchange between the East Coast Main Line and the A1(M).

A spokesman for Durham City Council, whose district includes the Tursdale site, called its deletion a "missed opportunity for the region".

Council deputy leader Carol Woods said: "It's omission was "disappointing and we will say that to the Government.

"Tursdale is important for jobs and will take freight off our trunk roads."

Durham City MP Roberta Blackman-Woods and Durham County Council have also spoken out in support of Tursdale.

In a House of Commons debate, Dr Blackman-Woods suggested it had been cut from the RSS as a potential threat to the development of the ports of Tyne and Tees.

"Extensive arguments have been made to suggest that they are complementary developments," she said.

Durham City Council is also unhappy with the way the RSS focuses on the development of the city regions of Tyne and Wear and Tees Valley.

Other critics of the RSS, originally drawn up by the North-East Assembly, say it casts doubt over the future of NetPark, in Sedgefield, a film and media complex planned for Seaham and a proposed renewable energy village in Eastgate, uper Weardale.

The Government is currently consulting on its proposed changes, a process which has been extended until mid-autumn.