FURIOUS North-East MPs yesterday vowed to continue their fight to make leaders of a defunct development agency pay for the "missing millions".

Two damning reports into the corporate mis-management of the Teesside Development Corporation (TDC) have revealed that there could be losses of up to £40m.

MPs want board members, and in particular its chief executive Duncan Hall and chairman Sir Ron Norman, to face action over the multi-million pound deficit.

Speaking yesterday, Ashok Kumar, MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, said: "I have not accepted that this is the end of the road. I still want to pursue this matter because all these individuals were paid out of the public purse.

"They abdicated their responsibility. What we need is some sanctions taken against them."

Dr Kumar has said he will press for action to be taken with Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott and to ensure future board members are fined if they leave debts to the public.

The TDC hit financial difficulties in the mid-1990s and was affected by cash-flow problems.

In the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee report, published yesterday, it was revealed that Tory Government officials knew it was in financial difficulties two years before it was wound up in March 1998.

A number of "unconventional" deals were cited, there was evidence of poor risk-taking, and Government rules were broken.

Vital files went missing, and are believed to have been shredded.

Redcar MP Vera Baird called for the Serious Fraud Office to launch an investigation.

"The director has stronger powers than the Public Accounts Committee to ask questions, command documents and require explanations," she said.

Stockton North MP Frank Cook said Sir Ron Norman and Duncan Hall had been "let off the hook".

"I would have thought, at the very least, Sir Ron and his board colleagues could publicly apologise for the enormous cost to the public purse," he said.

But Sir Ron has defended the actions of the board, outlining its achievements and stating that it always put Teesside first.

The TDC was responsible for successful developments, includingHartlepool Marina, Teesside Park and the Tees Barrage.

More than 12,000 jobs were created and 1,300 acres of industrial decline brought back into use.