The National Audit Office has congratulated regional development agencies on the first four years of their work.

In a report published on Wednesday, the watchdog said that the agencies were achieving their objective of stimulating economic growth.

However the NAO urged government departments to work more closely with RDAs in order to ensure that growth strategies were complementary rather than antagonistic.

The report will be a boost for John Prescott as he seeks to build support for elected regional assemblies in referendums next year.

RDAs have been a pet project of the deputy prime minister and he will hope that their success can be built upon by the more powerful assemblies.

NAO chief Sir John Bourn said the bodies had benefited from the efforts of the Department of Trade and Industry in reducing red tape.

"I applaud the work done so far by Regional Development Agencies and the work done by the DTI to reduce the burdens on them," he said.

"This report will better enable them to carry out their important business and it provides case examples from which RDAs and government can learn.

"I intend to work closely with them in the future to ensure that the full benefits of my recommendations are realised."

But the report said departments should tally their own Regional Economic Strategies more closely to the work being done by RDAs.

"Departments should pay more attention to Regional Economic Strategies especially when making policy and setting targets so that there is a better fit between regional and national priorities," the authors concluded.