A NORTH-East MP has repeated calls for auditors to be brought in for a full-scale investigation of the true cost of Operation Lancet.

Ashok Kumar, MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, has long campaigned for the bones of the anti-crime inquiry to be laid bare.

Earlier this month he voiced concerns that official estimates that the bill levelled out at about £2.5m were "grossly underestimated".

Dr Kumar used a Westminster debate to question the figure, suggesting the sky-high costs were nearer to £5m.

He told the Commons debate: "Research done on financial papers presented to the Cleveland Police Authority could be seen as showing that the costs are nearly double that."

At the time, Dr Kumar pledged to ask Home Office Minister Charles Clarke to order a public inquiry when Lancet finally finishes, to stop "such a farce" recurring in a police force.

Senior police chiefs and Government officials have remained cagey about the real price of investigating widespread allegations of corruption in the Cleveland Police force.

Questions still remain over the true bill for the hundreds of officers and thousands of man-hours which were poured into Operation Lancet.

But perhaps the most pressing question is: What is the real cost of Lancet?

Prior to allegations of crime and corruption among Cleveland police the force was hitting criminals hard.

l Former Assistant Chief Constable Robert Turnbull - the man who suspended Ray Mallon - may be ordered back to Britain from his island retreat.

Home Secretary Jack Straw is being urged to set up an independent inquiry to discover whether Ray Mallon's suspension from duty as head of Middlesbrough CID, two-and-a-half years ago, was prompted by petty jealousy rather than hard evidence.

The call for an inquiry was made by Labour peer Lord Brian MacKenzie of Framwellgate, who said: "I think if there was an inquiry, Mr Turnbull should be asked in no uncertain terms to give evidence."