HOPES for the creation of a new £1.8m station to serve expanding housing development between Moreton and Meols have hit the buffers.

Councillors claim the new station - to be known as Town Meadow Lane - has been in the pipeline for 20 years and that cash had been put aside for it in the 2006-10 transport plan.

But their expectations for a feasibility study, comm-issioned by Merseytravel, appear to have been side-lined.

Neil Scales, Merseytravel's chief executive, said this week that the study had never been promised. And there were many more urgent current priorities - including the upgrading of 82 existing stations. He said: "We will be looking at the proposed Town Meadow Lane station in our next five-year local transport plan, but we can make no promises.

"The passenger transport authority will need to be presented with an extremely convincing case before it will consider financial assistance."

Moreton and Saughall Massie Cllr Chris Blakeley said Mr Scales' remarks amounted to a slap in the face.

He said: "He is saying to Moreton people 'we are not interested.' Merseytravel will continue to build stations in Birkenhead, Woodchurch and Liverpool, but Moreton is not even on the map as far as they are concerned."

He pledged: "So long as we have breath in our bodies the fight will continue.

"We will keep knocking on Merseytravel's door until they take notice of us."

Cllr Blakeley said he had asked Merseytravel to make a presentation to Wirral Council's transportation select committee, but the item had been deleted after Mr Scales had indicated that he had not been contacted and was unable to attend the meeting.

He remarked: "We were promised a feasibility study but so far nothing seems to have happened.

"In response to Mr Scales' comments about presenting a convincing case, how can we create a good case until Merseytravel carry out a feasibility study?

"They need to convince us that we don't need a new station."

Mr Scales said he had not been personally invited to address the select committee meeting and it would be impossible for him to do so at short notice as he had other long-standing prior engagements.