Tony Blair has paid tribute to two North East papers for their part in the fight to get Nissan to build the new Micra in Sunderland.

The Prime Minister sent his personal congratulations to both the Sunderland Echo and the Newcastle Evening Chronicle after both papers ran campaigns on the key local issue.

The announcement was made this morning by Nissan president Carlos Ghosn and will safeguard 1,200 jobs in the region.

And as workers raised a glass to the decision, the Echo and Chronicle were enjoying the praise of Mr Blair.

He said: “I want to pay tribute to the Chronicle which has campaigned so strongly in support of the Nissan workforce and has shown itself to be a powerful voice for this community.”

A similar message was sent to the Echo and editor Andrew Smith was clearly delighted.

He explained: “It’s been a really busy day but a really good day. We had no idea until this morning which way the decision was going to go but it’s great for the area that it went the right way.”

The Echo put together a team of five reporters to work on the story yesterday, including Karen Richardson, who travelled to the Nissan plant to meet jubilant workers.

At the Chronicle, the newsroom saw a similar mix of celebration and hard work.

Deputy editor Murray Morse told HoldtheFrontPage: “We’re absolutely delighted with the news. In many ways it was a risky campaign to take on board because there was no guarantee we would win.

“But we felt it was important to do the right thing for the Nissan workers and it’s great that we have been successful.

“When we started the campaign, the situation looked decidedly bleak but we got a superb response from readers and the message got through to the right people in the end.

“It just shows how effective a short sharp campaign can be.”

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