THE Millennium Bridge over the Tyne is earning a reputation as one of the country's modern architectural gems.

It follows the latest accolade awarded to the newest Newcastle/Gateshead river crossing over the weekend.

The Blinking Eye Bridge as it has become known, beat off the challenge of six other architecturally acclaimed structures, to win the Stirling Prize for Architecture.

Judges from the Royal Institute of British Architects in conjunction with the Architects' Journal remained tight-lipped about the destination of this year's prize until Saturday's awards ceremony.

Cheers greeted the announcement at the event, staged in the Baltic arts centre, on the Gateshead Quays.

Gateshead council leader Mick Henry said the bridge, opened by the Queen during her golden jubilee visit to the North-East earlier this year, has proved an important and attractive addition to the Tyneside skyline.

"It's just a wonderful, beautiful object. This shows what we keep saying about the bridge, it's about quality.

"A positive feature is that it links two communities and that was something the judges will have looked at," said Councillor Henry.

It is the second year in succession that the bridge designers, Wilkinson Eyre Architects, scooped the award and the £20,000 prize, after similar success in the 2001 Stirling Prize honours list for a project in Rotherham.

Partner Jim Eyre said the feedback about the bridge has remained "incredibly positive", with few negative sentiments uttered, to his knowledge.