TEESSIDE’S Local Enterprise Partnership is drawing up a radical plan for its new Enterprise Zone.

Having awarded the zone, the Government said it was up to local councils to work together and decide exactly what geographic area it should cover.

This leaves open the possibility that a damaging split between council leaders desperate to bring it to their own patch could be avoided by presenting a case for a multi-area zone.

Now the outline details of how that bid might look are becoming clearer.

Instead of just accepting the usual definitions of a zone which would help SMEs with rates and red tape, the LEP wants to make sure the larger companies also have reason to target Teesside.

“We want to push all the boundaries with this application, not just looking at the rates and planning benefits,” said Linda Edworthy, director of policy and strategy at Tees Valley Unlimited which runs the LEP.

“We have had initial discussions with the Government to make sure we were heading in the right direction, so we want to look into capital allowances as well, for the likes of low carbon and energy- based projects, which can have big set-up costs.