AN MP has said a Merseyside port, which she says is breaching EU funding rules by allowing cruises to start there, could threaten the Port of Tyne’s future success.

Mary Glindon said Liverpool City Council is breaking the conditions laid out when it received £20m of public money to create a new cruise terminal by operating ten turnaround cruises since May this year.

The money was given on the basis Liverpool would not compete for turnaround business and the North Tyneside MP wants to see the council pay back the cash or stop operating turnarounds.

Ms Glindon has joined forces with fellow Labour MP David Miliband and Conservative MEP Martin Callanan in a cross-party attempt to have the issue resolved.

Other ports around the country are also lobbying for action, both at Westminster and Brussels.

The news comes as Port of Tyne reported a recordbreaking cruise season, with 36 cruise liners calling at the port since April, leading to 80,000 passengers passing through the North-East terminal – an 80 per cent increase on last year.

Nearly half the cruises were lucrative turnaround cruises.

In 2011, an independent economic assessment calculated that the combined impact of the cruise and ferry business for the regional economy was in excess of £45m.

Already 34 cruise visits have been provisionally booked for next year, but Ms Glindon said she was worried Liverpool may unfairly take turnaround business from the North-East.

“We want to level the playing field,” she said.

“When you see what the Port of Tyne has achieved without help, why should Liverpool get away with doing what it is doing and breaking the rules?

“What the Port of Tyne has done is amazing and it has achieved it through hard work.

“Ultimately, this is about jobs and tourism for the North-East. We will all work together to try to get fairness for all ports.

“I don’t think the Port of Tyne should be left on its own to deal with this, and we will try as hard as we can to make sure Merseyside does not get away with it.

“It should pay back the money or stop operating turnaround cruises. We are going to fight this.”