CITY leaders in Sunderland insist a multi-million pound bridge for the River Wear remains a priority, following the success of Tyneside's Millennium Bridge.

The £22m "blinking eye" bridge, at Gateshead, won Millennium Commission funding months after a similar bid from Sunderland was blocked.

When the decision was made three years ago, civic bosses on Wearside demanded to know why they had been missed out.

Any bridge would link Festival Park, near the old Vaux Brewery site, with the Stadium of Light.

Sunderland City Council leader, Councillor Colin Anderson, said: "The millennium footbridge is still very much in our plans."

He also revealed plans for another pedestrian bridge, at the former Grove Cranes site, as part of the Sunderland Arc redevelopment.