A £2.4M scheme to boost the growth of North-east creative firms has failed to invest a single penny in Teesside’s burgeoning digital sector.

The North East Creative Content Fund was launched last February to provide debt and equity-based finance to the region’s television, film, interactive media, music and games industries.

So far a total of £1.2m has been invested in nine companies across the region - all from outside Teesside.

Several applications have been submitted by Teesside firms but all have been rejected, apart from two which are currently under review.

Project bosses said the majority of the funds had gone to companies with expertise in film and television production.

Michelle Cooper of venture capital firm Northstar - which is leading the scheme with Northern Film & Media - said: “We’ve had a significant number of applications from this sector, which is not necessarily one of the strengths in Teesside.”

DigitalCity, which is leading a 25-year gameplan to build a creative super-cluster on Teesside, said the area was playing catch-up to more mature film and television industries in other UK regions.

Mark Elliott, CEO of DigitalCity Business, said: “On one level she [Dr Cooper] is right.

“In Newcastle you have got a tradition of making stuff which we don’t have but there’s a lot of exciting grassroots stuff going on up here in Teesside.”