Critic's Tyne bomb.

Byline: By Louise Redvers

Outspoken art critic Brian Sewell has branded Newcastle "hideous" and compared it to Eastern Europe.

On the day Tony Blair will be told which of the six finalists has scooped the Capital of Culture crown, we reveal how ignorant Sewell likened the area to the outskirts of Zagreb in Croatia.

His vicious attack came during a tour of Tyneside filmed for a special BBC documentary about the region's culture to be screened on Monday night.

Londoner Sewell, who once called for Gateshead to be bombed, told local radio listeners: "Forgive me, but I think Newcastle is pretty hideous and not getting any better."

And he said the Gateshead Millennium Bridge "looked like an old-fashioned machine that you use for slicing eggs".

Today Gateshead Council leader Coun Mick Henry hit back at Sewell.

He said: " Since the bridge was opened almost two years ago, it has been showered with awards from around the world, for not just its construction, but also for its amazing design.

"And well over a million people have crossed the bridge to see the developments in and around Gateshead Quays.

"So I think the entire region would join me in saying that once again Mr Sewell has got it very, very wrong."

Sewell also criticised the Angel of the North as "bad engineering", describing it a "totem" .

"It's just there, but don't tell me it's a work of art," he said.

His scathing assault on Newcastle and Gateshead began from the moment he stepped off the train at Newcastle Central Station, when he sniped: "It's very Eastern European, isn't it? Sort of the outskirts of Zagreb."

Olympic gold medallist Jonathan Edwards, who is backing our bid to be European Capital of Culture in 2008, said he was appalled by Sewell's attack. He said: "I think what he has said is outrageous.

"Everybody is entitled to their own opinions, but I think what he thinks puts him in a minority, both in the North East and in England as a whole."

Ged Bell, Newcastle City Council cabinet member for Culture, Tourism and Sport added: "It's disappointing that a man of his obvious intelligence should find it so difficult to accept that culture can exist in many different forms and in places outside of London.

"Initially his sense of humour may have been considered mildly amusing, but this has now started to become tiresome and unacceptable."

Mr Sewell had been invited to Tyneside for a tour of the region after he caused outrage back in March by saying an exhibition at the Baltic should be displayed in the capital to have a more sophisticated audience.

In the past he called for Gateshead to be bombed, saying: "Gateshead is a self-inflicted wound. Bomb it, then you will change it. It is an awful place. Most of the North is awful."

In the half-hour Inside Out programme, Mr Sewell is given a personal tour by Viz founder Chris Donald.

We see him being taken around the Baltic, the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, the Laing Art Gallery, the Angel of the North and treated to lunch in the Strawberry pub opposite St James's Park.

In an interview on the programme he denies saying that the North East is not sophisticated enough to appreciate modern art and said: "I simply said there was a more sophisticated audience in London."

And added: "It's been very good rediscovering the Laing Art Gallery and Grainger Street. I am wholeheatedly in favour of moving things away from London or sharing them.

"A spread of culture is something which is dear to my heart and has been something I have preached ever since I became an art critic."

Newcastle Gateshead Initiative chair Sir Ian Wrigglesworth, said: "Brian Sewell is entitled to his view. Newcastle Gateshead is a great place to be.

"His comments have drawn attention to the fact that there is much going on in the North East that many people in London wish that they could have."

QInside Out is on BBC1 on Monday at 7.30pm