THE arts and culture sector in the North-East is going from strength to strength according to a new report.

Today marks the publication of an Arts Council England commissioned report by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR).

It covers the period of 2011 to 2016, has found that the arts and culture sector in the region accounted for £400 million in turnover in 2016.

The Economic Value of Arts and Culture in the North of England report also found that the arts and culture sector is steadily growing in the North-East.

It has contributed £203 million Gross Value Added to the Northern economy in 2016, a 28 per cent increase from 2011.

In 2016, the sector employed 2,450 people across the North-East and it is estimated that spending generated by overseas cultural tourists in the region was; £58 million from visits to museums, £29 million from trips to arts galleries and £58 million from live music venues.

Pete Massey, Arts Council England’s Director for Northern Economy and Partnerships said: “It’s fantastic that the report is shining a light on the impressive arts and culture sector in the North East.

"For a relatively small region the cultural offer is huge.

"It is great too that so many tourists from the UK are taking the opportunity to visit the amazing cultural organisations across the North-East, boosting the visitor economy as a whole.

“It is brilliant to see that the North East’s cultural sector is continuing to grow and has much more potential to be an even bigger contributor to the local economy."