TODAY'S Budget was a great one for the North-East, with the announcement that the Treasury is coming to Darlington and a freeport for Teesside.

And Chancellor Rishi Sunak was the first to single out our area for praise.

As he rounded off his Budget speech, he made a point of praising Teesside and Darlington for all its successes, including the manufacturing of the Novavax Covid vaccine.

Mr Sunak said: "Lets take just one of those places - Teesside.

"In the past it was known for its success in industries like steel, now when I look to the future of Teesside.

"I see old industrial sites being used to capture and install carbon, vaccines being manufactured, off-shore wind turbines creating clean energy for the rest of the country, all located within a Freeport and a Treasury just down the road and a UK infrastructure bank only an hour away."

Mr Sunak said Freeports – “special economic zones with different rules to make it easier and cheaper to do business” – will be located at East Midlands Airport, Felixstowe and Harwich, the Humber region, the Liverpool City Region, Plymouth, Solent, Thames and Teesside.

Meanwhile the Treasury is to establish a new economic campus in Darlington, the Chancellor revealed, which will also include Business, International Trade and Local Government departments.