FEARS that a debate on plans for a controversial freight depot is being stifled have been answered by council chiefs in Kent's county town.

Councillors in Maidstone have so far declined to either endorse or condemn Kent International Gateway's (KIG) plans for a road and rail interchange at Bearsted, despite widescale public opposition.

The silence is a result of advice issued by the council's legal experts.

A letter issued to all councillors warned that anyone "prejudging" the KIG proposals could be excluded from future public debates and lose their right to vote on the issue.

Cllr Fran Wilson (Con), the leader of the council, has warned that the council could render itself powerless if councillors enter the debate before a planning application is submitted.

But Tory councillors claimed they were being "gagged". Cllr Ben Sherreard (Con) said that a Liberal Democrat election leaflet published earlier this year said the party would "continue to battle the threat to our local countryside".

He asked if the councillor who wrote it would withdraw from future debates. He added: "If not, are you just trying to gag Conservative councillors?"

Cllr Alan Bradshaw (Con) also suggested that the Liberal Democrats had already given an opinion, while denying others the right to do so.

Cllr Wilson said: "Every member of this council is free to decide what they wish to say. But they have to clearly understand that if they predetermine the proposal they are precluded from engaging in the debate."