BUSINESS leaders have accused council chiefs of taking a Nimby attitude to plans for a freight railway line through Buckinghamshire.

The Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce has hit out at councils, including South Bucks District Council, after they slammed the proposals put forward by Central Railway.

Members of the chamber claim that the 16 councils in the Local Authorities' Central Railways Consortium (LACRC) are taking a "not in my backyard approach" to the scheme, which would run through Princes Risborough, High Wycombe and Beaconsfield

The LACRC argues that the 400-mile lorry-on-trains service between north-west England and Northern France via the Channel Tunnel, would have a huge environmental impact on the county and is completely unintegrated with existing national rail networks.

But Mary Flavelle, policy and communications executive at the chamber, said: "They are putting the cart before the horse.

"They say that they want traffic off the roads but they have not put in place any alternatives for businesses."

Chamber president Jean Charmark expressed his disappointment at LACRC's attitude saying: "These councils claim that they want to see cars and lorries taken off the roads but when they are presented with a proposal which may achieve their wish, they oppose it on environmental grounds."

He added: "I am sorry to say that this looks like another example of the nimbyism which is rife in the Thames Valley."

But South Bucks District councillor Chris Whitehouse hit back at the chamber, saying that it was nothing to so with a "nimby approach".

He added that they criticised the plans on the basis of information provided by a top civil engineering firm about the proposed link.

He said: "Huge trucks would thunder through our area to get access to a massive freight terminal proposed for green belt land in Iver."