BOSSES at Southampton City Council are due to come under fire today over a bungled bus deal that cost taxpayers more than £232,000.

A report by the Audit Commission says that council officers took a "premature" decision to make a full payment to failed bus company Rohill Bodies Ltd without first getting their hands on the vehicles.

The report, called for by City Council chief Brad Roynon, blames bosses from transport, legal services and procurement for not following council rules which could have avoided the council exposing itself to financial risk.

City chiefs have launched an internal inquiry which will be chaired by an independent executive officer from inside the Civic Centre. The officer, who has yet to be named, will be charged with finding out just what went wrong and what lessons can be learned - as well as if any disciplinary procedures are necessary.

However, it is unlikely that anyone could lose their job over the error, said a council insider.

The damning report criticises the council for:

l Paying for the buses without first receiving the vehicles.

l Confusion in the roads and transport department over whether the goods had been received and the subsequent authorisation of the payment among senior officers.

l Holding on to the cheque for three weeks before finally despatching it to Rohill Bodies.

Audit Commission bosses are recommending tightening-up the rules on the way payments are made to outside organisations by the council.

In particular, they are asking council officers to make sure that signatures are not written down to say goods have been received when they "clearly have not."

The council's head of highways, Rod Anderson, as well as staff from the procurement and legal services departments, will be also be quizzed about the failed deal.

The project was due to come under the spotlight at a meeting of the council's environment and transport scrutiny committee today.

Questions will also be tabled at a meeting of full council this afternoon where Councillor Norah Goss, who heads the procurement department, and Councillor David Beckett in charge of finance will both be quizzed by opposition groups.

Councillor Richard Williams, chairman of the council's environment and transport scrutiny panel said: "Serious questions about the competence of the council's elected members will need to be asked."

Cabinet member for environment and transport Councillor Jill Baston said that the council was trying to get back the cash from the administrators of Rohill.

She added that the report acknowledged that officers had been acting with the best interests of the council at heart.

The service is now due to be up and running by summer this year using vehicles obtained from one of the city's bus operators.