Figures revealing how wages are falling further behind in the North-East are fresh evidence of the north-south divide, it has been claimed.

Gross weekly earnings have risen by £71.70 in the region since Tony Blair came to power - half the £144 increase in London.

Workers in the North-East have enjoyed the smallest gain of any region in England, behind the South West, £79, Yorkshire and Humber, £79.40, and the East Midlands, £80.10.

The Liberal Democrats seized on the statistics as proof of the way the "two speed" economy - caused by the strong pound - had resulted in a boom in the south, but economic stagnation in the north.

Paul Holmes, the Liberal Democrat work spokesman, said that the Office of National Statistics (ONS) survey revealed a worrying snapshot of the economy under Labour.

The statistics showed that gross weekly earnings in April 2002 were only £399.30 in the North-East, again the lowest of any region in England.

The next lowest wages were in Yorkshire and Humber, £409.90, East Midlands, £413, and the South West, £421.70, rising to £624.10 in London.

The ONS figures come after a report last week by a House of Commons committee, which concluded that the economic divide between the north and the south was getting worse.

The housing, planning, local government and the regions committee said six regions - including the North East - were lagging behind the UK average, damaging overall growth.

And it questioned the Government's policy of "levelling up" - an attempt to make every region more prosperous rather than redistributing wealth.

The committee's report called for tax penalties and tax breaks to encourage major employers away from prosperous London and the South East.

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister acknowledged there were "persistent disparities" in the economic development of the different regions.