CONSERVATIVE MP David Lidington fears the Government is giving covert backing to Central Railway in its £5.6 billion proposal to build a rail freight line through the country.

The proposed line would carry lorries by rail from Liverpool to Lille through Buckinghamshire, with a terminus near the M40/M25 interchange.

What is worrying Mr Lidington is a meeting called in the House of Commons by government minister Richard Caborn, at which the chairmen of five regional assemblies in England through which the line would run, met the chairman and chief executive of the company.

They were asked whether they were prepared to see a bill introduced into the Commons to speed up Central Railway's plans.

When Mr Lidington was asked by a reporter what he thought about this he was so concerned he immediately tabled two questions to Mr Caborn's boss, Stephen Byers, the Trade and Industry Secretary.

"I am asking him what contacts ministers have had with Central Railway this year and what consultations his department has had with the regional assemblies and regional development agencies.

"I want to know what is going on," said Mr Lidington, MP for Aylesbury, whose constituency covers the Princes Risborough area.

"Transport ministers have said, quite properly, that they can't express any opinion on this project.

"If Richard Caborn is now trying to give a nod and a wink from a different department, then it seems the Government is speaking with a forked tongue.

"The Government must be honest about where it stands."