Durham Tees Valley Airport 'would revert to Teesside International'

The cash would come from a £500m budget allocated to Mr Houchen by government, he says

Durham Tees Valley Airport will revert to its previous name of Teesside International if a bid to bring it back into public ownership is successful.

The airport, near Darlington, is losing £2.5m a year and Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen says a provisional deal has been agreed to buy it from Peel Group for £40m to include some adjacent land.

More than 14,000 people have taken part in a council poll to choose its name.

Of those who responded, 93% opted for the airport's former name.

The airport was known as Teesside International between 1966 and 2004.

• Public invited to choose airport name

• New polar research vessel to be named RRS David Attenborough

• 'Boaty McBoatface' tops ship name poll

Conservative Mr Houchen said if the deal to buy the airport went ahead, locals would be able to choose its name.

He said: "The people have spoken, and I'll deliver what they want. If we take back control of our airport, I'll change the name back to Teesside International."

International flights began from the airport in 1966

'It doesn't exist'

The reason given for the rebrand was that many of the airport's passengers, particularly those from outside the UK, were unfamiliar with the location of Teesside, whilst Durham was better known.

Mr Houchen added: "International investment doesn't arrive on a bus, it arrives through an airport terminal. Our airport name should reflect a brand people know and understand world over.

"'Durham Tees Valley' is a made-up name. It doesn't exist, and when I speak to international investors they don't know where it is either."

A formal decision on the purchase will be made on 24 January by the Tees Valley Combined Authority- made up of the leaders of Middlesbrough, Redcar & Cleveland, Hartlepool, Darlington, and Stockton-on-Tees.