A WATCHDOG has been urged to investigate after councils in the South used £1m of taxpayers’ cash to fight plans for a high-speed rail link from London to the edge of Liverpool.

Graham Evans, the Conservative MP for Weaver Vale, condemned a “disgraceful misuse of public money” after carrying out his own research.

Now Mr Evans has passed his findings to the Audit Commission, which has the power to censor local authorities if they have wrongly spent public money on political campaigns.

The biggest sums were spent by Buckinghamshire County Council (£500,000), Hillingdon Council, in West London (£200,000), and Chiltern Council (£125,000).

All are members of a group set up to fight the plans to run 250mph trains from London to Birmingham and, eventually, the North – through the rolling hills of the stunning Chilterns.

Mr Evans, who submitted Freedom of Information requests, said the councils had also allocated officers’ time, legal support and other backing which was “impossible to value”.

He added: “This is a disgraceful misuse of public money. High-speed rail is the biggest step forward any Government has taken to tackle the problem of the North-South divide.

“My constituents need jobs and growth above all else.

“They are deeply disturbed that southern councils are paying to keep the North poorer.”

The row comes amid growing anger among Tory supporters in the South at David Cameron’s vow to force through high-speed rail (HS2) plans.

The second stage of HS2 would build lines to Leeds and Manchester by the early 2030s.

Under the plans, high-speed trains would slow to conventional speed outside Liverpool, but London-Liverpool journey times would still be slashed from 2hrs 10mins to 1hr 37mins.

But Martin Tett, Tory leader of Buckinghamshire Council, said: “This is not a done deal, no matter what the Government may try to imply. We can definitely win this battle.”