DEPUTY Prime Minister Nick Clegg has said the North East must not repeat the mistakes of the past as he toured a recipient of the Regional Growth Fund cash.

Mr Clegg was at Stockton-based Nifco, which makes small plastic parts for cars, and will use the funding to support its expansion.

This will involve the building of a new manufacturing facility and a research and development centre with private- sector investment to create further jobs in the North East.

Mr Clegg said economic recovery needed new solutions and past mistakes must not be repeated.

He said: “No one could be happy with where we are at. We want to see recovery happen quicker, not only in the North East but in the country as a whole.

“We are healing from a huge, huge shock which hit the country very hard back in 2008 when the banks – from Northern Rock to RBS – basically blew up in our face. We are still recovering from that.

“The only way to recover from that shock in the North East is not to repeat the mistakes of the past, not to put Humpty Dumpty back together again, but to do new things.

“That’s what the Regional Growth Fund is about.” He was visiting Nifco after it was announced it had won RGF money for a second time, creating and securing jobs.

The firm’s successful first-round RGF bid involved a £11m investment, creating 128 new jobs and sustaining a further 158 jobs.

Yesterday we revealed The Journal’s Let’s Grow campaign was one of the big winners from round three of the RGF after scooping £30m to help North East firms expand.

The award is expected to create or safeguard 3,500 jobs and pull in some £120m of private investment.