The former chief accountant of TransTec has offered to take his alleged evidence against his old boss, former Labour minister Geoffrey Robinson, to Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Max Ayriss made the offer after Mr Blair suggested the police probe against the former Paymaster General was the product of Tory mischief-making.

Police are investigating fraud allegations against Mr Robinson, founder of the West Midlands engineering firm.

Mr Ayriss alleges that his former boss encouraged him to fraudulently apply for grants from the Department of Trade and Industry.

Mr Robinson denies all wrong-doing.

But Mr Ayriss said he was "incensed" by Mr Blair's implication in Wednesday's Prime Minister's Questions that the probe had been whipped up by Tory MPs.

'Inquiry about the truth'

Replying to a question on why he had not removed the whip from Mr Robinson after the inquiry was announced, Mr Blair said: "Let us wait and see what the investigation reveals, though, as with many of these investigations into Mr Robinson, it is instigated on allegations made by Conservative MPs."

But Mr Ayriss said: "I was astonished to hear the Prime Minister say the latest allegations regarding Geoffrey Robinson related to Tory propaganda.

"My allegations relate to the integrity of an MP who later made it known he was looking for high office if Labour came into power.

"I am quite willing to sit in front of Mr Blair and show him the papers if he does not wish to wait until the police have completed their investigations. This story is about the truth."

Millionaire businessman

Mr Robinson, a millionaire businessman, founded TransTec in the early 1980s, but resigned as chairman when he joined the government in 1997.

The company collapsed just before Christmas 1999, going into receivership amid claims of accounting irregularities.

In a statement on Monday the DTI said: "Following allegations that fraud had been committed against the DTI, officials have interviewed Mr Max Ayriss about the circumstances surrounding grants made to the TransTec group of companies.

"In the light of this interview, and following consultation with the West Midlands Police, the DTI has handed over to the West Midlands Police information relating to grant payments made by the department to subsidiaries of TransTec plc and the information revealed by the department's inquiries into these matters.

"On the advice of the West Midlands Police, they [the police] will now conduct any further interviews which may be necessary and decide what action they intend to take."

DTI officials said the police inquiry would consider only the claims made in relation to the allegedly fraudulent grant applications and that this would not affect the independent investigation into TransTec's collapse.