EXTRA money has been given to the flagship regional growth fund after protests that hundreds of bids for jobcreation projects will be thrown out.

Chancellor George Osborne said £400m would be distributed this week when the winning applications were unveiled – a £100m to £150m top-up to the expected amount.

The move offers fresh hope to some of the 126 bids – for £740m – that have been submitted from the North-East and Yorkshire alone.

They include 20 bids from Tees Valley Unlimited (TVU), the area’s local enterprise partnership, asking for nearly £80m towards schemes that could create an estimated 11,000 jobs.

The projects include house-building (£28.9m), mixed-use developments (£5.7m), a Metro-style light railway across the Tees Valley (£9.05m), as well as applications from the process and green energy sectors.

Mr Osborne also revealed that infrastructure projects will be rewarded. Previously, ministers said they favoured schemes offering “quick wins” for job creation. However, most applications will still be rejected. In total, 450 schemes nationwide are under consideration, worth £2.5bn.

Furthermore, £50m is expected to be handed to so-called business angels, who take stakes in fledgling enterprises in poorer parts of the country.

The winners will be unveiled by Lord Heseltine, the former Conservative deputy prime minister, who was picked by David Cameron to lead an independent panel. Announcing the extra money in a speech to the annual conference of the British Chambers of Commerce, Mr Osborne said: “Our country needs to see growth across every region.”

Labour has criticised what it called the inadequacies of the growth fund, warning that the huge numbers of bids meant it was “not a success story, but rather a disaster”.

John Denham, the party’s business spokesman, said: “Ministers will have to explain why hundreds of viable projects for growth will not go ahead across the country.”

Labour has pointed out that the fund is much smaller than the money funnelled through regional development agencies, which are being quickly wound down.

Grants for Business Investment are being scrapped. They helped companies seeking smaller amounts of investment aid. In contrast, the growth fund has asked for bids topping £1m.

A Treasury spokesman said: “The Government has been encouraged by interest in the first round of the regional growth fund, so £400m will be distributed.”

Ministers have hailed the fund as proof that the Con-Lib coalition is determined to “foster a thriving and more balanced economy”, stimulating enterprise, jobs and growth in the North.