AN OUTSPOKEN critic of transport authority Merseytravel last night vowed he would not be silenced in the face of legal action.

Merseytravel chairman Mark Dowd is threatening to sue fellow transport authority member Andrew Makinson for defamation, and the taxpayer is helping to pay Cllr Dowd’s legal bill.

Liberal Democrat Cllr Makinson was sent a legal letter on behalf of Cllr Dowd, after he issued a press release to journalists raising questions about the Labour chairman’s authorised use of Merseytravel’s credit card.

Speaking for the first time since the row broke out Cllr Makinson said: “This is a simple attempt to intimidate me, and it is not going to work.

“I am not going to let it worry me because I have not said anything libellous.”

Merseytravel refuses to discuss the case while the legal action is ongoing.

The district auditor, who had been asked to investigate the credit card spending, said he could see no reason to take any formal action.

The authority has employed Richard Green, of Hill Dickinson, who helped prove Liverpool FC captain Stephen Gerrard’s innocence when he was accused of an affray in a Southport bar.

Cllr Makinson has questioned Merseytravel over the legality of the authority helping to fund Cllr Dowd’s case.