THE company behind the Trafford Centre has been excluded from an independent panel overseeing plans for congestion charging in Greater Manchester.

Peter Nears, strategic planning director at Peel Holdings, was nominated by Trafford council as their representative on the 15-strong body of businessmen, lawyers and academics.

It is understood he was rejected by senior council officers from across the region for having too strong a `direct interest'.

The panel will decide if the charge passes key tests - including being acceptable to business and not hurting the economy.

The news emerged just days after Gordon McKinnon, director of operations of the Trafford Centre, said congestion charging would be a `terrible mistake' that would put Greater Manchester at `an immense competitive disadvantage'.

Peel Holdings, which has assets of é3bn and is headed by billionaire John Whittaker, is seen as one of the key economic players in the region.

In addition to the Trafford Centre, the company owns much of the land in Salford Quays earmarked for the BBC's new northern HQ.

Senior sources indicated Mr Nears was dropped after discussions between the various council chief executives and before elected politicians voted on his inclusion. It is understood several members of the panel backed Peel's involvement but they were overruled.

The snub provoked a furious response from Susan Williams, leader of Trafford council.

"We are not happy at all," she said. "We are trying to get to the bottom of why Peter and who else, if anyone, was rejected.

"Peel is the single biggest interest in Greater Manchester and doesn't just have interests in Trafford. The reason we were given was that he had too much of a direct interest."

Ms Williams - the only Conservative council leader in Greater Manchester - has admitted she has `philosophical problems' with the idea of charging.

The panel's members include David Partridge, chief executive of property developers Argent; Nick Johnson, deputy chief of Urban Splash and chairman of Marketing Manchester; Geoff Muirhead, boss of the Manchester Airport Group; lawyer Peter Heginbotham, chairman of Manchester Enterprises; Stephen White, a senior partner at Cobbetts solicitors and chairman of Pro Manchester; Michael Oglesby, chairman of the inward-investment body MIDAS; Angie Robinson, chief executive of the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce and John Early, a past president of the chamber.

Trafford is now represented by businessman Ian Fox and panel chairman is recently-retired Manchester Business School director Prof John Arnold. Two academics who support charging are also members.

The panel's task is to advise the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities on whether four key `tests' have been met. Until they have, plans to charge up to é6 a day to travel at peak times on congested routes will not be submitted to the government as part of a bid for é1bn of transport funds.

The tests are: There must be `significant' investment in public transport, including Metrolink, before charging is introduced; it must complement competitiveness in the city and town centres and do nothing to disadvantage the poor; be acceptable to the public and business; and be applied only where congestions exists or may develop.