HAMPSHIRE'S top politician is calling for John Prescott to step in and save the £270m supertram system which was shelved earlier this year.

The scheme linking Fareham, Gosport and Portsmouth has been 14 years in the planning and has cost Hampshire taxpayers nearly £10m.

But government plans to help fund the South Hampshire Rapid Transport link were halted in July this year by Transport Secretary Alistair Darling amid escalating costs.

Now, in a letter to the Deputy Prime Minister, Ken Thornber has asked him to urge the transport minister to review his decision.

In the letter he explained how Mr Darling's decision had resulted in "destabilising efforts to regenerate communities in Gosport and Portsmouth, which are among the 20 per cent most deprived in the country".

He referred to press reports which have indicated that Mr Prescott is urging for a review on a similar decision which turned down the funding case for Manchester Metro expansion, and asked that the same support be shown for Hampshire's light rail scheme.

The scheme would, he said, deliver benefits that would "compare favourably with any other local public transport scheme competing for Government support".

"The recent disappointment has no doubt challenged our commitment to delivering a project that has been on the stocks for over 13 years," he added.

"Any temptation to give up now is countered immediately by our strong belief that the light rail scheme is, by a clear margin, the right solution for this part of South Hampshire."

The cost of the tram plan, which aimed to remove more than three million cars a year from the congested M27 and A32 rose from £100m to £270m as insurance premiums spiralled in the wake of September 11 2001.

A second phase would have connected the tram to Southampton.

Ministers are furious that light rail schemes are far more expensive in Britain than the rest of Europe.

Mr Darling ordered Hampshire County Council and Portsmouth City Council to go back to the drawing board and come up with a cheaper alternative and supporters of the long-awaited scheme were devastated by the news.

But Hampshire transport chiefs vowed to fight back - by somehow rescuing the plan and recouping the £9.5 m of public money already spent.