Mrs Dunwoody chairs the influential transport select committee

Gwyneth Dunwoody said Communities Secretary Hazel Blears acted for "venal and personal reasons".

She said plans to turn seven councils into two unitary authorities were "deeply and wholly objectionable".

But minister John Healey said the plan had been proposed by four Cheshire councils - not imposed by government.

The row erupted after Mr Healey announced Cheshire's county council and district councils are to be axed and replaced by two unitary authorities.

'Crawlers'

Mrs Dunwoody, chairman of the Commons transport committee, is also MP for Crewe and Nantwich in Cheshire.

She said the plans would cost taxpayers �100m and the authorities would run out of cash reserves in their first year.

I have rarely seen a decision like this taken with such cynicism and with so little respect of the interests of the average voter. Gwyneth Dunwoody

She said Ms Blears had never "deigned" to explain the need for the change, which was being pushed through "irrespective of the needs or wishes of the population".

"I believe it is a decision which has been taken for the most venal and personal reasons and I find it wholly and deeply objectionable," she said.

'Completely disingenuous'

She added she had seen MPs being promoted over the years: "I have seen the crawlers. I've seen those whose sexual preferences were of interest to others.

"I've seen those who've demonstrated a great commitment to their own interest, irrespective of the political parties they were supposed to be representing.

We find these comments disappointing and baffling Department for Communities spokesman

"But I have rarely seen a decision like this taken with such cynicism and with so little respect of the interests of the average voter."

However fellow Labour MP Mike Hall, MP for neighbouring Weaver Vale, said Mrs Dunwoody was being "completely disingenuous" in suggesting there was no local support for the plans.

He said he backed them, as did fellow Cheshire MPs, Labour's Christine Russell and Andrew Miller and Tory MP Sir Nicholas Winterton.

Local government minister John Healey said it would save over �16m a year and improve services and told the Commons the government could not shy away from "tough decisions".

And a spokesman for the Department for Communities and Local Government said: "We find these comments disappointing and baffling.

"This proposal came from four councils in Cheshire. It is not devised or imposed by the government and has been judged on merit against strict published criteria."