A NORTH-EAST airport faces stiff competition for millions of pounds of taxpayers' cash after the Government revealed its national funding pot was five times over-subscribed with applications.

Durham Tees Valley Airport (DTVA) wants £4.65m from the Government's regional growth fund (RGF) to help build a road linking the north side of the site with land south of the passenger terminal.

The Government says it had received 309 applications in the fourth round of the RGF from companies across the UK worth £1.8bn.

It only has £350m to give to firms and has received applications for 26 North-East projects worth £215m.

Last night, Sedgefield MP Phil Wilson, whose constituency includes the airport, backed DTVA's bid, but said the Government was not doing enough to help companies through RGF funding, which aims to create jobs in areas hit by coalition spending cuts.

He said: “I want to see as many North-East companies as possible be successful with funding and I want to see more passengers at the airport.

“A lot of regional airports are going through difficult times and if this bid can hep secure the future of it until there is an upturn with passenger numbers, then this bid is more than welcome.

“The Government is looking at allowing local enterprise partnerships to come together to put forward bids, which says to me they are acknowledging it was a mistake to get rid of the regional development agencies.

“They are re-inventing the wheel and in the meantime the region is having to compete with more established agencies elsewhere.”

The airport was rejected for £5.9m RGF funding last October and airport bosses previously admitted they face tough competition due to the plethora of bids.

A decision on their latest application will be scrutinised by an independent advisory panel, chaired by Lord Michael Heseltine, which will put forward recommendations on favoured bidders to the Government later this year.

In the three previous rounds of the RGF, North-East firms such as Nifco, Nissan and SSI were pledged money from the fund.

Michael Fallon, Minister of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, and former Darlington MP, said: “The RGF is motoring ahead.

"Across the country it is helping businesses to do great things for our economy, whether that’s hiring more skilled engineers or building new plant and machinery to compete abroad.”