A KEY figure in the fight to reopen a tourist railway is urging critics to draw a line under the past.

Regional development agency One NorthEast was criticised yesterday for giving the Weardale Railway, in County Durham, £940,000 on the back of an "overly-optimistic" business plan.

The line went into administration in January, with debts of almost £1m and the loss of more than 30 jobs.

Now the National Audit Office, in a letter from its regeneration and renewal branch director David Corner to Weardale councillor John Shuttleworth, has said that estimated visitor numbers of 90,000 spending £3.12m a year were "overly optimistic".

Although the agency had not acted improperly, Mr Corner said: "There was a failure to adequately benchmark the proposed visitor figures and spend with similar projects."

But Kingsley Smith, who retired last week as chief executive of Durham County Council, said last night: "That is old hat. Obviously that report was prepared against the backcloth of an old business plan.

"We are now having the benefit of a new and revised business plan and looking ahead five to ten years.

"Clearly things have moved on. The way that it will be managed and run in the future will be different. It is time to draw a line under the past."

One NorthEast is withholding £120,000 from a rescue plan trying to get the line out of administration.

A spokesman said: "We are looking to resolve the current situation and get the railway back on track."