THE bosses of three major North-East arts projects were jumping for joy last night after just under £5m of Lottery cash backing was announced.

But Northern Arts, the Newcastle agency which handles cash bids to The Arts Council of England, expressed disappointment that three further schemes failed to get off the ground.

The biggest winner is Newcastle Playhouse, home to the Northern Stage theatre company, which gets £3m towards the £6m re-development at its Newcastle University Barras Bridge Site.

Artistic Director Alan Lyddiard said: "This is something we have been striving towards for the past ten years. We are working to make Northern Stage a key player in the build-up to the City of Culture bid for 2008."

Dance City is on the move in Newcastle with £1.35m of support for its £3.6m major development plan within the city's Grainger Town area.

But the biggest celebrations are reserved for Tyneside's Centre For The Children's Book, a first for Britain, which is being given £550,000 towards starting life in an old riverside flour mill, in Ouseburn Valley in the city.

The project missed out on funding in 1999 and artistic director Elizabeth Hammill has worked tirelessly to win support for a £4.5m North-East centre dedicated to children's books.

Last night she said: "British books for children are the envy of the world. This funding award will ensure that we do not lose any more of our important work to collections overseas."

The centre aims to become part of the £1bn cultural transformation of the Newcastle and Gateshead riverside areas, which already include The Baltic Contemporary Arts Gallery, the North Music Centre and Millennium Bridge.

There was no cash available for a £450,000 project to celebrate the Metro extension into Sunderland, the £1m Elite arts and theatre building for Crook or the £250,000 Waygood Art Gallery in Newcastle. All three will try again next year.