THE former chairman of the controversial Teesside Development Corporation (TDC) last night fended off calls to give up his knighthood.

Sir Ron Norman OBE said he was unwilling to be drawn into an argument with his accusers, but criticised "personal attacks" on him.

Stockton North MP Frank Cook has questioned whether Sir Ron should be allowed to keep his knighthood in the wake of a damning report into the TDC.

The report by the National Audit Office (NAO) revealed how the defunct corporation had broken a series of rules and regulations.

A House of Commons Public Accounts Committee hearing was then told of how losses of up to £40m were piled up and sensitive documents shredded and destroyed.

Sir Ron said: "I was given this knighthood while chairman of the board and did not ask for it.

"Frank Cook is entitled to his opinion and if he does not like the title he does not have to use it."

He said that the report into the TDC was not a balanced one, while adding that he was upset at the treatment he had received from the audit office, the Press and local MPs.

Mr Cook, a fierce critic of the TDC, said that Sir Ron had to accept the ultimate responsibility for the "shambles behind the shiny facade".

He said: "The truth of the matter is that the body over which he presided broke almost every principle of public service and accountability - ignoring the rules and doing deals which squandered huge amounts of public money."

Pressure is growing for a criminal investigation into the affairs of the TDC.

Redcar MP Vera Baird said she was speaking to other Teesside MPs about the possibility of involving the Serious Fraud Office.

A spokesman for the office said it had yet to receive a complaint and stressed that any allegations made would have to fit its criteria of "serious and complex fraud".

Cleveland Police halted an investigation into the TDC in November 2000 because they were unable to find evidence of criminal offences involving the agency