ONLY eight shopping centres in the region are facing prosperous futures, according to research.

Economic analysts have ranked 650 UK shopping centres in the UK on the prospects for the year ahead.

The centres were ranked on various factors including rental values, estimated spending over the next year, levels of inquires from new business and possible employment growth in the next five years.

Just four shopping areas in the region made the top 100.

Eldon Square in Newcastle was ranked as the top shopping centre in the North-East at number 24 but this was 13 places lower than in 2000.

The Metro Centre in Gateshead fell 96 places to 135th in the country while Linthorpe Road in Middlesbrough fell 79 places to 234.

Northgate in Darlington, The Bridges in Sunderland, Beveridge Way in Newton Aycliffe and Yoden Way on Peterlee all did better than last year but only two of these made the top 100.

Surprisingly Harrogate and York, which are traditionally popular with shoppers, were only 36th and 48th respectively.

Business Strategies Associate Director, Nick Stewart, who carried out the research said: "The ranking is a measure of the retail property investment potential of a location.

"It shows clearly the centres which have established leadership, those which are on the way up and those which have a long way to go or are struggling."

The research shows that most places in the North-East are in the bottom half of the table and have fared worse than last year.

Exceptions include Stockton High Street which has moved up seven places to 363 out of the total of 650.

But others like the market place in Durham have dropped more than 100 places in the ranking in the last 12 months.

According to the analysts these results reflect the North-East's slow rate of growth and higher than average unemployment.