THE deliberations of the Commons Public Accounts Committee must not be the end of investigations into the propriety of Teesside Development Corporation.

Monday evening's cross-examination of TDC chief executive Duncan Hall failed to answer the many questions raised by the damning report compiled by the National Audit Office.

Mr Hall appeared to suggest the TDC's record in creating 12,000 jobs and generating £1.4bn worth of investment makes him and the board of directors immune from criticism or scrutiny.

With breathtaking arrogance, he said the TDC's losses were minor compared with the good the corporation had done for the area.

Can we make it plain to Mr Hall that neither we, nor the people of Teesside who entrusted him with millions of pounds of public money, do not regard a projected £40m deficit as a minor sum of money. It is imperative that money is accounted for before the books are finally closed on the TDC.

But, also called to account must be the board of directors at the TDC, who stood by while so many rules were bent or broken.

Now that the full scale of the shortcomings has come to light, it is time for a detailed investigation into the activities of the TDC and the manner in which it was wound up.

Local MPs are pressing the Crown Prosecution Service to examine the possibility of a criminal investigation. We will not dissuade them from their demands.

But equally, the sorry saga has raised doubts over the competence and integrity of civil servants.

There is no doubt that concerns were expressed at very senior levels within Whitehall over the management of the TDC, to such an extent that the position of both the chief executive and chairman were called into question.

We need to know why these serious reservations were not at least matched with a more rigorous and urgent process of scrutiny.

If they had been, we may have had cause to remember the TDC for the jobs and investment it brought to some of the most deprived areas of our region, rather than its cavalier attitude to accountability.