A "LUDICROUS" £10 million bureaucratic bill for a bid to bring congestion charging to Greater Manchester could yet rise, it has been claimed.

Council chiefs have spent £9.8m applying to ministers for £3bn worth of public transport improvements, in return for a peak-hour, pay-to-drive charge of up to £5 a day.

Consultants' fees and a consultation exercise have seen local politicians overspend the amount given by the government to bankroll the bid by over 200 per cent.

Half of the £9.8m bid cost will be paid out of council tax bills - even though there is no guarantee the bid will be successful.

Bid chiefs are known to have drafted in consultants from KPMG to help with the bid, which includes money spent on congestion modelling.

There was also a huge consultation scheme, which included leaflets sent to every household, and a survey of 5,000 residents by pollsters GfK-NOP.

Councils behind the move defended their spending, saying it was a price worth paying for the transformation of the city's public transport.

But Graham Stringer, Labour MP for Blackley and an opponent of the charge, said far too much had been spent on mathematical modelling relying on "voodoo economics" and "a fantasy world".

"There's nothing, as far as I can see, in their transport models which correlates with the real world," he said.

"I have no objection to getting the best people in, but overspending a very large budget of £3.5m provided by the government I think is ludicrous.

"These are the figures that the organisers gave us two to three months ago. I expect the final figures to be larger, one or two million more. The money would have been better spent on transport issues such as security on trams or buses, which has been a problem."

Also scathing was Lib Dem leader and Gorton councillor Simon Ashley, who reiterated his party's call for a referendum.

"I just think the whole process has been deeply flawed," he said.

"A lot of money has been spent on opinion polling and outside consultants, without really listening to what local people are saying.

"You get consultants in when you want them to confirm what you're thinking anyway. The council does this all the time."

Greater Manchester's 10 local councils voted by an eight-to-two majority last month to press ahead with the Transport Innovation Fund (TIF) bid.

A spokesman for the Greater Manchester TIF bid said the cost reflected the scale of the work and the benefits would be felt for generations.

Obscene waste of money

SEAN Corker of Manchester Against Road Tolls has branded the expenditure on submitting the TIF bid an "obscene" waste.

He said: "Basically Manchester council has one aim and that is road pricing at any cost.

"The fact that they're prepared to squander so much money on rail-roading it through against people's wishes and then expecting the council taxpayer to pick the bill doesn't bode well for the future of any road pricing scheme.

"They are the 'transport Taliban'. You cannot use the most popular mode of transport, otherwise you are going to get fined."