Caribbean governor questioned proposed deal with firm allegedly linked to Ashcroft

There is no suggestion Lord Ashcroft is being investigated over corruption claims or he has been approached by the detectives. Photograph: Rex Features

The British governor of a Caribbean island questioned the propriety of a proposed deal between a company allegedly backed by the Conservative peer Lord Ashcroft and a prime minister now under investigation over alleged corruption, according to Foreign Office documents.

Richard Tauwhare, the then governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands, claimed that the island's prime minister Michael Misick was planning to award a commercial project to redevelop the island's airport to a "Lord Ashcroft company".

Tauwhare wrote in the documents that the deal was being "personally negotiated" with the company by Misick without competitive bidding.