DAVE Watts has called for an inquiry into St Helens Council's planning procedures.

The Newton MP has criticised Liberal Democrat councillors for failing to declare their interest regarding the future planning application for the former colliery at Parkside.

And he is asking for a full review following a council investigation that showed senior Lib Dems had broken the council's own code of practice. Mr Watts said: "On June 1, the Liberal Democrats leader criticised me for raising concerns about the way that some Liberal Democrats seemed to pre-determine the forthcoming Parkside planning application.

"It is clear from the council's own investigations that they are failing to declare their personal interest and their comments will in my view make it very difficult for them to take a balanced view of this important application.

The MP says he has written to the council's chief executive asking whether any members' public statements have created a situation where they would be unable to judge the application on its individual merits.

A senior Lib Dem spokesman said Labour had made allegations to the standards board in the past but none of them had been upheld.

They said that Mr Watts was pre-determining any decision and they would be unable to comment further until a decison was made by the board.