A GOVERNMENT investigation into the performance of a coroner is expected to be held behind closed doors.

A spokeswoman for the Department for Constitutional Affairs said an inquiry ordered by Lord Falconer, the Lord Chancellor, into the work of Teesside Coroner Michael Sheffield was "a private investigation".

Stockton South MP Dari Taylor, who is writing to Lord Falconer asking for an explanation, said last night: "I thought we lived in an open society where people and public representatives could make their serious concerns known to public bodies and expect a level of openness.

"This inquiry is a result of complaints about the delays. The grief people have been expressing on Teesside due to those delays in completing inquests is real.''

Mr Sheffield, the area's coroner for 30 years, said the estimated backlog of 200 cases was due to lack of staff and a national shortage of pathologists, recently responsible for a backlog of 60 post-mortem examination reports.

Local MPs have asked questions about the delays in completing inquests and the effect on bereaved families.

The Tees Valley Cruse Bereavement Care organisation wrote to Prime Minister Tony Blair about the matter earlier this year, and Cleveland Deputy Chief Constable Ron Hogg described the delays as "intolerable". He said he was determined to resolve the situation.

Mr Sheffield said that, from 1996 to the end of 2000, a backlog built up due to a lack of experienced coroners' officers. There were further delays last year due to the absence of three coroners' officers.

"I can only go as fast as the files can be prepared,'' Mr Sheffield told The Northern Echo in a recent exclusive interview.