A GROUP of MPs yesterday called for a North-East coroner to be sacked because of an alleged backlog of inquests.

Latest figures show Teesside Coroner Michael Sheffield has yet to complete 209 inquests, and 47 of them have been outstanding for six months or more.

Last year, the Lord Chancellor severely reprimanded the 75-year-old coroner following an investigation by a circuit judge into how he handled cases.

Mr Sheffield's progress was to be monitored for 12 months.

Vera Baird, a Queen's Counsel barrister and Labour MP for Redcar, wrote to the Lord Chancellor claiming the coroner's working practises had not changed.

Fellow Labour MPs Frank Cook (Stockton North) and Dari Taylor (Stockton South) backed her calls for the coroner to be sacked.

Ms Baird said: "Being reprimanded has bounced off him and the situation is just as bad as it always was."

She said constituents whose families were affected by the backlog had asked for her help.

"They were unable to get closure, unable to grieve properly for a loved-one because, a year or more after a death, which was likely to have been sudden, they have no more information about what happened to them."

The Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer, remained aware of the continuing backlog of cases and was giving the matter further consideration, a spokesman said.

He added that the number of cases outstanding for more than six months in 2002 was 170, had fallen to 25 by last December, but risen to 47 by the end of June.

The spokesman said not all 209 outstanding inquests should be classed as part of any backlog, as cases take some time to prepare.

"He has speeded up but we will continue to monitor the situation."

Mr Sheffield was on holiday this week. His solicitor said he had prepared a response to the MPs' criticism, but its release had not yet been approved by the Department of Constitutional Affairs.

The family of Elaine Basham, from Loftus, east Cleveland, who died after surgery to remove her tonsils, have waited almost four years for an inquest into her death.

It will now take place in September, as reported in The Northern Echo last month.