CITY council workers in Southampton have been slammed by politicians after it was revealed that the controversial Dibden Bay inquiry will run more than £100,000 over budget.

Councillors blamed administration staff for failing to flag up the massive overspend during recent budget meetings, only recently disclosing the full extent of the financial crisis.

Planning for the inquiry, which starts in October, has already cost council bosses £158,000 in legal costs and consultancy fees.

By the time it has finished, that figure will have soared to almost £400,000 - yet the council has only budgeted for £292,000.

City leaders confirmed they would have to plough the extra cash into the project, although it is not yet known what effect it will have come the next budget.

During a heated debate politicians queued up to tear a strip off staff, insisting that they must be better informed of what council workers are doing with the money.

Cllr Peter Jenks, executive member for corporate management, said: "It has not been handled the way it should have been. Officers should have informed us at the earliest possible date that the budget would not meet costs."

He was joined by Tory councillor Alec Samuels, whose attack fell just short of accusing council staff of outright laziness.

The clearly upset councillor said: "Officers at this council are too inclined to go out to consultants instead of doing the work themselves.

"Members should be kept informed of any overspend. But we weren't told and it came as a nasty shock to discover we were that far over budget."

The under-fire staff were defended by Liberal Democrat leader Adrian Vinson, who suggested that politicians were too quick to "let council officers do their work for them".

But even he conceded the overspend was massive when compared to the earlier projections. He said: "It was clear at the last meeting that there was only £4,000 left in the kitty. While I concede it was not clear exactly how much extra we would need, it should have been obvious to councillors that it would be a lot."

In January last year Southampton decision-makers were told the public inquiry, which will decide whether to allow the Associated British Ports scheme to go ahead, would cost £292,000.

Since then they have spent £24,000 on legal bills, £55,000 on consultants' fees and £77,000 on internal costs. They will now spend a further £55,000 on lawyers, £35,000 on project management and £14,000 on consultants.