EUROPEAN grants aimed at boosting business and jobs in the North-East have exceeded £40m and the money is expected to help 12,000 businesses and create 9,500 jobs.

This progress was highlighted as representatives from the education, public, voluntary and private sectors met to discuss the Objective 2 Programme, which will give £434m of European Structural Funds over the next six years to support regeneration activities in the region.

Jonathan Blackie, chairman of the Programme Monitoring Committee and regional director of the Government Office for the North East (Gone), which administers funds in the region on behalf of the European Commission, said: "It's highly encouraging that we are now starting to see real benefits on the ground, with funding coming through at £2m a week.

"This shows the amount of hard work that has been put in by all parties, including the project applicants, to get the schemes under way."

But he added: "This is public money and we have a responsibility to ensure that every penny is spent effectively and appropriately. There is still a long way to go, but we are now beginning to see positive results."

Organisations and projects to have received support under Objective 2 include the National Glass Centre, Sunderland; business incubator units at Kielder in Northumberland; an Internet access suite at Meadowell Community Resource Centre in North Shields and the Product Innovation Programme in Tees Valley.

Objective 2 Programme package teams are keen to hear from people with ideas for building accommodation, such as business incubator units, as well as European Social Fund training schemes.

More information can be found on the www.go-ne.gov.uk website