THE leader of Southampton City Council says he is confident that a bid to unlock £531million of investment for the region has been successful.

Simon Letts was quizzed by Government ministers this week as he headed up a joint bid to secure vital City Deal funding for Southampton.

If the joint bid with Portsmouth is successful, it could create 5,000 jobs, 7,500 new apprenticeships and 2,000 new homes across the region.

Cllr Letts was joined by Solent Local Enterprise Partnership director Russell Kew and Portsmouth City Council leader Gerald Vernon-Jackson for the presentation at the Houses of Parliament on Wednesday.

And following the presentation and subsequent questions from a panel of top ministers, he says he believes the day went well.

He said: “We are extremely confident with how it went.

“We’re pleased with the feedback we got from civil servants. They said that the ministers were impressed with the quality of our bid.

“We are more confident now than we were before the presentation.”

A decision on whether the bid has been successful is now expected in November.