ONLY five per cent of people living in the North-East believe the North-South divide has narrowed in the past five years, according to a survey by think-tank Policy North.

It asked respondents what they thought would be the biggest influence on closing the gap.

Forty per cent said transport and infrastructure spending would help, followed by Brexit (31 per cent), elected mayors deciding spending priorities (13 per cent) and the Northern Powerhouse project (12 per cent).

Other suggested solutions included more devolved powers and employment legislation to eradicate wage differences.

Policy North chairman Stephen Purvis said: “The North-South divide is very real and remains a big challenge to crack. Businesses we talk to are clear that they don’t want a bigger begging bowl and exporting jobs from the south is not a sustainable solution.

“Manchester has shown that with devolved powers comes real cash and the ability for local leaders to set their own priorities, but there is also an East-West divide.

“We need an equally strong, outward looking, global vision for the North-East and Yorkshire, that is not simply built around slightly quicker journey times between regions.

“Leaving the EU will enable us to create free trade zones around existing port infrastructure. If the major ports in the North were given free port status, they could generate hundreds of thousands of jobs and inject billions of pounds into local economies.

“It would be the most effective Northern economic development programme by any Government.”