A KEY witness at the Dibden Bay public inquiry was yesterday accused of leaving vital information out of his evidence.

Economics and planning consultant Paul Whitehouse gave evidence on Friday on behalf of Hampshire County and New Forest District Councils.

The authorities are objecting to the proposals by Southampton Docks operator Associated British Ports (ABP) for a huge container terminal on the shores of Southampton Water between Hythe and Marchwood. In evidence, Mr Whitehouse outlined a picture of a buoyant economy without Dibden Bay and quoted extracts from a report by Allan Willett, the chairman of the South East England Development Agency.

A £108 billion economy with the best economic performance in the country outside London.

A buoyant and successful economy.

Significant potential for economic growth.

But he came under heavy pressure from ABP's counsel Martin Kingston, who referred to the "grossness" of his omissions and pointed out that he had failed to mention some stark warnings from Mr Willett. Mr Kingston pointed out that the SEEDA chairman had said: "Our potential strengths are formidable. But as of now we are in the second division - at least 22 other European regions alone are out-performing us.

"We are simply not punching our weight internationally. International comparisons show clearly that no part of this region is performing to anything like its full potential."

He had earlier said that the south east ought to be a world class region and "one of the top ten regions in Europe - perhaps the world."

He admitted: "We must face the stark reality that we are not a competitive region today - we must get our act together. We need to show what we can do for ourselves and for our country."

But Hampshire and New Forest councils' barrister Richard Drabble pointed out that Mr Whitehouse had referred to the reference in the SEEDA report "maximise the benefits of its potential strengths and grossly under-utilised assets."

Mr Whitehouse then said he recognised the need for continued development and improvement and stressed: "I haven't been complacent and said 'everything's okay and there's no need to do anything else'."

His evidence had taken issue with suggestions that the Southampton area needed Dibden Bay in order to continue being successful. But under pressure from Mr Kingston, he conceded that Southampton was a successful port and it did have potential for expansion. Mr Kingston also asked Mr Whitehouse if failing to take advantage of opportunities which presented themselves was a failure to maximise the potential of the area.

"To fail to take advantage would be a failure to maximise the opportunities."