We've got angry on behalf of the people of the North-East on the front page of The Northern Echo this morning.

"Sold down the river" is the headline on a story asking key questions about the SeaDragon project to build an oil and gas platform on Teesside.

The deal, which would have created 1,000 jobs, was pulled when Lloyds TSB withdraw their funding. The investment has been lost to Singapore as a result.

What makes my blood boil is that Lloyds TSB is part-nationalised. It's 43 per cent owned by the British taxpayer.

And taking the work to Asia is going to cost £110m more to build the platform. Where's the sense in that?

But despite these apparent anomalies, no one - neither Lloyds TSB, nor the Government - has seen fit to offer any kind of explanation.

There may be a valid explanation but no one is willing to tell us what it is.

With so much public money propping up the bank, that's not good enough. We deserve answers to these questions: * Why did the Government fail to intervene on behalf of the North-East?

* Why was Lloyds TSB allowed to pull the plug on the deal going ahead on Teesside when it is part-owned by British taxpayers?

* Why has the contract gone to Singapore, where it will cost £110m more to build?

* Why was the contract given to the North-East, only for it to be withdrawn a year later because it was "too risky"?

* Why won't Lloyds TSB comment?

* Why won't anyone from the Government comment?

* Why has the Government decreed that no Freedom of Information requests be made to nationalised or part-nationalised banks?