Plaid Cymru has attacked the delivery of European Union Objective One regeneration spending in Wales.

The party has highlighted figures showing that spending on EU-funded projects is now lower than when the Conservatives were in power.

In a speech to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, MP Adam Price was set to attack the failure of Rhodri Morgan's Cardiff Bay administration to deliver higher spending.

Figures obtained by the MP from the DTI show that in the first three years of the current programme, which began in 2000, the average annual spend on Objective One in West Wales and the Valleys has been almost 50 per cent less than the average figures pledged before the start of the programme.

"The fact that West Wales and the Valleys will qualify for Objective One status after 2006, despite the accession of the Eastern European countries, is an appalling indictment of Welsh Labour's economic policies," Price told the Western Mail ahead of his speech.

"But this should come as no surprise when they are failing to spend the money which they promised would transform our economic prospects for generations to come."

Job creation

Responding to the criticisms, economic development minister Andrew Davies said the nationalists were not comparing like with like as delays in approving the project meant little was spent in 2000.

More than 50,000 jobs have been created or safeguarded through total spending of £1.7billion, he added.