An academic behind the report telling northerners to ditch cities such as Liverpool for the south, yesterday accepted an invitation to the city � if he has the time.

An academic behind the report telling northerners to ditch cities such as Liverpool for the south, yesterday accepted an invitation to the city - if he has the time.

Dr Tim Leunig, a lecturer at the London School of Economics, was behind a report for the think tank Policy Exchange which dismissed the Capital of Culture's £4bn revival.

Yesterday, the Liverpool Echo newspaper, which printed his photograph and e-mail address, invited Dr Leunig - whom they called a "barmy boffin" - to town.

He told the paper he would visit, if he could work it around a conference in Manchester.

"I'm a full-time lecturer," he said. "It's the time. I would love to be able to come and if Liverpool was next to London I'd do it like a shot.

"But it's a long way. And the last time I went on a Virgin Train it wasn't on time."

The firm has reportedly offered him two free first class tickets to make the trip easier.

The academic, whose work was widely rubbished upon publication, stood by his report, saying: "But no matter what you show me in Liverpool, it doesn't change the bottom line.

"Unfortunately, people in Liverpool are more likely to be unemployed, earning less ... And I think it's a real shame, a real tragedy for the people of Liverpool."

He added that since his e-mail address was published he had been deluged with correspondence and only a third of which was insulting.

He told the paper: "Somebody criticised my haircut.

"Somebody said I should get a refund on my glasses. "One just said that I was a w*****."