Cheshire East Council has claimed that the net cost of the botched bid to build a waste transfer facility at Lyme Green has only costs thousands, not millions.

It says that when all potential and actual savings and costs are factored in, the money spent will total £262,000.

The council’s claim comes after Cheshire East’s Labour group accused the Conservative-led council of spending a ‘scandalous’ amount on the failed plan, saying the bill could top £3m.

And though the waste transfer facility plans were never completed, the council says that the scandal led it to reviewing its policy and so avoided paying outsourcing costs that could total £800,000.

The information is drawn from the council’s financial records and accounts and the council’s assessment of costs of making good the Lyme Green site for future development.

Outrage at claims Lyme Green scandal cost £3m

At the time of the fiasco in 2011 Cheshire East Council publicly apologised for proceeding with preparation work for the waste transfer station at Lyme Green before gaining planning permission.

And after the council released its figures, council leader Michael Jones said: “I am pleased that the residents of Cheshire East now have the true picture of the costs arising from this event.

“It is important that we are fully apprised of the facts.

“I am satisfied that this presents a much more accurate account of how money was spent, how it was saved and how other factors came into play to mitigate the full financial impact of this episode.”

But Sam Corcoran, a labour councillor, said that the figures did not make sense.

He said: “The latest figures produced by Cheshire East Council assume that the silver wheelie bin service was never rolled out in the north of the borough.

“In that case no waste transfer station would have been needed.

“The figures also assume that a waste transfer station was built at Lyme Green to the impossibly tight deadlines that were originally set.

“In their desperation to demonstrate that the Lyme Green fiasco hasn’t cost them any money, the Conservative controlled council have made deductions for two contradictory events.”