PRO-CONGESTION charge councillors have put the brakes on plans to build themselves an underground car park next to Manchester town hall.

Bernard Priest, Labour's finance chief, has recommended that no public money should be spent on the project - effectively killing the proposal.

It follows an outcry earlier this month when the idea - which would have seen the multi-million car park built just yards from a tram stop - was revealed by the MEN.

The council's Labour leadership is backing controversial plans for a peak-hour congestion charge in return for £2.7bn of grants and loans to spend revolutionising the region's trams, trains and buses.

Opposition parties said it was `hypocritical' to be demanding more free parking for councillors while encouraging others to use public transport.

Simon Ashley, leader of the opposition Liberal Democrats, said: "This is yet another u-turn from Labour. It is welcome, but it just goes to show how out of touch they are."

The plans for the car park, which would have been built under the Peace Gardens, were contained in a private Labour briefing note drawn up by Coun Priest. He wrote that it would provide `adequate parking for members on busy council days'.

Coun Priest said at the time it was `in the interests of democracy' that councillors - while not exempt from the planned congestion charge - had enough parking places.

The Labour group agreed to a feasibility study to draw up detailed space requirements and costs. But the M.E.N. understands the group has since met again - and decided to ditch the plans.

Coun Priest said last night he now believed the car park `should be seen as a low priority'. He said: "There should be no plans to develop [it] using public money."

He denied Labour had been forced to scrap the plans following hundreds of comments and letters that flooded the M.E.N's website and postbag.

He said: "It would be inaccurate to suggest that the proposal for the car park was ever council policy.

"The Labour group were presented with a range of possible options in a discussion document ahead of the council beginning work on a strategy for the future of the town hall complex. The message came back loud and clear that they did not want to pursue the proposal."

Pat Karney, Labour's city centre spokesman, said the decision to go ahead with the study had come `at the end of a long group meeting'.

"This was blue-sky thinking from a working party," he said. "Maybe we made a mistake in not making our intentions clearer."

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