LORD Mackenzie, the peer accused of having sex with a prostitute he met in the House of Commons, today makes his first public appearance since the scandal broke when he launches a major North-East crime-busting initiative.

Brian Mackenzie, a Labour life peer, was forced to defend himself this week over newspaper allegations that he slept with Salima Kebache.

He was accused of taking tMs Kebache - who was working in the Commons bar - to his London flat.

The 59-year-old former chief superintendent of Durham Police said he was the victim of a tabloid set-up.

A former Home Office advisor, he will give a keynote speech on Internet fraud this morning, at the launch of the North East Fraud Forum at St James' Park, Newcastle.

Fraudsters cost the region's economy £500m a year. The North-East and North Yorkshire loses an estimated £57,000 an hour, almost £1,000 a minute, through fraud.

Police forces have teamed up with businesses and agencies, including the Inland Revenue and Customs and Excise, to combat fraud.