Jobs destined for the Westcountry could be lost to Wales and Scotland as the region's economic development body is dismantled, MPs have been told.

Sir Harry Studholme, chairman of the South West Regional Development Agency (RDA), which the coalition Government plans to scrap, said experts it employs to lure overseas investors to the region are being head-hunted by agencies in Wales and Scotland. Sir Harry, a successful Devon-based businessman, told a Commons select committee that losing civil servants that boasted strong contacts with foreign companies put "vital" inward investment at risk.

Many of the biggest firms in Devon and Cornwall are overseas-owned, including Cornish china clay firm Imerys and Plymouth-based chewing gum manufacturer Wrigley's.

During an hour-long session with MPs and heads of RDAs across the country, Sir Harry said that the South West's inward investment team played a crucial role in encouraging foreign firms to create even more jobs in the region.

The South West RDA also has outposts in Melbourne, Tokyo and Mumbai.

Asked whether regions would lose out to Scotland and Wales as England shifted to a new system of regional development, Sir Harry said the region faced "challenges" from Wales even before the RDAs were consigned to the scrapheap.

He said: "Most of the inward investment success derives from pre-existing relationships. They are existing customers who operate inside areas, so creating those relationships is absolutely key to bringing companies from Japan or America.

"In this flux, those relationships have a risk of being broken down. We are already seeing our inward investment experts being approached by Wales and Scotland, so people with the relationships may well change."

Sir Harry was called to give evidence ahead of the creation of local enterprise partnerships (LEPs).

LEPs are smaller-scale alternatives to sprawling RDAs that were heavily criticised for creating artificial regional government boundaries.

Speaking afterwards, Sir Harry said while RDA staff "really care about the economy of the South West", it is "inevitable" that people will look for employment elsewhere.

He said: "In any transition there are going to be problems.

"One of the things we need to watch in the transition is the loss of that sign-posting to the South West, and it is something we will be doing our very best to minimise the impact."

The select committee hearing coincided with the Government revealing it has received 56 LEP proposals to replace the nine RDAs in England.