HELIOSLOUGH has exaggerated the problems of other locations by assuming rival schemes will be as big as its own proposal, the council has argued.

Continuing his cross-examination after a coffee break, Mr Reed continued to scrutinise the example of Colnebrook near Slough.

A large railfreight project on the site was refused planning permission after a lengthy public inquiry in 2002, but the location's owners are now prearing a more modest proposal.

Mr Reed challenged: “Your assessment of the landscape and visual impact of Colnebrook is on the basis of a Radlett – scale development.

“But the proposed application is smaller than the scale of the previous one.”

The witness replied: “We were looking at the comparative merits of different locations.

“We tried to compare like with like.”

The council's principal line of attack on the company's alternative sites study is that there is no reason why the railfreight terminal has to be in the north-west sector of the M25, but Mr Reed appears to be preparing a fall-back position that there are in any case better sites in this sector.