'Totally and utterly transformational' - Chancellor Jeremy Hunt on Crown Works Studio plan for Sunderland

'Totally and utterley transformational' - that's the verdict of Chancellor Jeremy Hunt on plans for massive new TV and movie studios in Sunderland.

FulwellCain - a joint enterprise between Sunderland Til I Die producers Fulwell73 and investment firm Cain International - has partnered with Sunderland City Council for the Crown Works plan, which would see massive investment on the former Coles Cranes site near the Northern Spire Bridge.

It would cover 1.68m sq ft of land in three phases and once complete, would house 20 premium sound stages suitable for major feature film and high end TV productions.

Mr Hunt and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak visited the University of Sunderland today to confirm £37million in funding and new powers that will allow the North East Mayoral Combined Authority to push ahead with the development.

Mr Hunt was at pains to emphasise the scale of the plans: "I think this is the biggest announcement we've had for Sunderland since the Nissan factory," he said

"It is a huge, huge moment and it is basically saying that Sunderland is going to be a global giant and in an entirely new industry, one that is growing really fast, one that the UK does incredibly well - we have become Europe's largest film and TV production centre and we're on track to be second only to Hollywood.

"But if we are going to fulfil that dream, which is a brilliant thing for the UK, then we have to spread outside London and the South East, which has got enormous talent but is also very expensive and that's why this is very strategic for the UK as well as being brilliant for Sunderland."

The move was 'compelling evidence' that the Government was pressing ahead with its Levelling up agenda, he said: "Levelling up is also a mentality that says our country's economic future cannot be one in which all the best-paid jobs are concentrated in London and the South East but, of course, it takes time to turn that round.

"If you think about the time it took for the decision by Nissan to build a factory up here, and the extraordinary benefits that has reaped over many, many years, this is the start of that process in an entirely new industry.

"Its incredibly exciting for Sunderland and it's exciting for the Chancellor of the Exchequer as well, because I think this is really a very compelling example of how levelling up should work

"If you are wanting to transform the economic potential of big parts of the country that have been overlooked for decades and decades, that takes investment in infrastructure and it also means attracting investment from overseas . That does not happen overnight but we are making very good progress."

And Mr Hunt confirmed that support would continue , regardless of which party claims victory in the North East mayoral election: "I think the evidence shows we've been very even-handed," he said.

"There's been huge investment in Greater Manchester under a Labour mayor as there has been in the West Midlands and Teesside.

Private investment was critical to the success of the project," he said: "If we are hoping to continue to invest in public services and avoid the cuts that we had after the financial crisis in 2010, then you need to have a growing economy and that means public and also private investment."

And he paid tribute to the hard work of Fulwell73 founder Leo Pearlman, who has spearheaded the plans: "You can't just rely on public investment," said Mr Hunt.

"Public investment ultimately, as important though it is, requires higher taxes to pay for it. Private investment is ultimately what we will need so that we can grow the economy and this is a private investment, because of the extraordinary vision that we have had from Leo, of £450million.

"The state is putting in north of £100million of investment to make it possible but actually this is dwarfed by the private sector investment because of this incredible vision that FulwellCain are now making a reality."