SPORT England was forced on to the defensive last night after figures revealed the North-East was the worst performing of any region when it came to National Lottery funding.

The body, which distributes Lottery money for sporting projects, yesterday denied claims from MPs that London's bid to host the Olympic Games in 2012 was drawing funding away from the region.

Sport England said a decision to defer Lottery bids for an Olympic-sized swimming pool in the North-East had nothing to do with the London bid and was because a shortfall in funding had led to a review of 250 projects.

A plan to allocate cash for a £120m international sport academy in Gateshead has also been deferred.

Last night, following a request by The Northern Echo, Sport England released figures detailing how much Lottery cash it spent per region since the Lottery began in 1994.

More than £91m has been spent in the North-East - the lowest figure of any region.

When compared with London, which has received £162m from Sport England, the region also loses out.

Per project £489,000 has been spent in the North-East compared with £558,000 in the capital.

Earlier, North Durham MP Kevan Jones revealed the Department of Culture, Media and Sport's estimates about the effect of Lottery cash, given to him in an answer to a Parliamentary Question.

Sports Minister Dick Caborn said Lottery operator Camelot had estimated that the London Olympic bid would mean four per cent less income for existing good causes between now and 2009 and 11 per cent between 2009 and 2012.

Last night Mr Jones said the pot of Lottery cash was sinking and the Olympic bid would make that worse.

He said: ''I think it is nonsense and I think most of the people in the North-East do as well. I don't think it will benefit the North-East, but have an adverse affect on it."

A Sport England spokeswoman said: "These are two completely different issues.

"Everything that we do is now under review, it is not just schemes in Newcastle or anywhere else across the country.

"Our income from the Lottery has dropped from a high of £268m in 1997-98 to about £160m for this financial year - those are the true facts."