Teesside mayor Ben Houchen stands accused of "hiding behind a cloak of secrecy" over a deal that saw 90% of shares in a major redevelopment scheme handed to firms with Tory links.
Labour has hit out at Boris Johnson's northern ally, after the vast majority of shares in Teesworks - the 4,500-acre former Redcar steelworks site part of major regeneration plan to create 20,000 jobs - were transferred into private hands.
Until December, 50% of the shares were in public ownership via the area's South Tees Development Corporation.
But at a behind-closed-doors meeting of the Tory-dominated Tees Valley Combined Authority, it was agreed 90% of its shares would be awarded to joint venture partners JC Musgrave Capital and Northern Land Management.
Among the directors of Northern Land Management is Ian Waller, who has donated £7,000 to Ben Houchen, £2,500 to Chief Secretary to the Treasury Simon Clarke and £2,500 to Bishop Auckland's Tory MP Dehenna Davison.
Meanwhile, Joseph Christopher Musgrave, of JC Musgrave Capital, donated £3,000 to the Conservatives in 2015.
Teesworks will be part of Teesside's freeport, meaning the area will also benefit from light regulation and tax breaks.
Cabinet members of the Tory-dominated Tees Valley Combined Authority signed off the new agreement last year, with members of the South Tees Development Corporation also giving it the nod.
