Tees Tunnel: Ben Houchen promises £1m to develop plans for tunnel running under River Tees

A study into this project, known as Tees Tunnel, was first announced in April 2022.

But Mr Houchen, who is standing for re-election this year, said Tees Valley Combined Authority Cabinet (TVCA) now has the money for “in-depth” analysis of the proposals after the government scrapped the northern leg of HS2 and redistributed billions of pounds of funding.

“For far too long, people from Hartlepool have had to endure a tortuous journey of 45 minutes to Redcar and vice versa,” he said.

“We’ve been looking at cutting this time for years and now we have the money to have a proper in-depth look at tunnel possibilities and concepts.”

A similar TVCA-funded study looked at plans for an eastern crossing, linking Hartlepool and Redcar, in 2019 but it was abandoned due to concerns about the cost.

And back in 2004, the now defunct regional development agency One NorthEast drew up proposals for a £157m tunnel under the river, between Middlesborough and Haverton Hill, but they were then scrapped.

Mr Houchen insisted the Tees Tunnel has “real potential” and could allow thousands of people north of the river to access the new Teesworks site.

The redevelopment project, which aims to transform the former Redcar Steelworks into a major manufacturing hub, has been beset by allegations of cronyism and corruption, which Mr Houchen denies.

The findings of an investigation commissioned by the government are due to be released in the coming weeks.

Critics are concerned that hundreds of millions of pounds of public money is being spent on clearing the Teesworks site, but when that land is leased to investors most of the profits will be paid to two local developers, Chris Musgrave and Martin Corney.

It comes after they were handed a 90 per cent stake in a company called Teesworks Limited, which has options to acquire valuable parcels of the land on the 4,500 acre site.