An official investigation into the runaway cost of repaving Oxford's Cornmarket Street began yesterday (August 19) -- in private, with the Oxford Mail being refused entry.

The investigation was ordered by Oxfordshire County Council's executive in May after the cost of repaving the street soared to £5.1m -- double the original estimate.

The Oxford Mail reported on Wednesday that officers had advised councillors their inquiry should be "fully transparent" and "open to the public"-- then announced the first meeting would be in camera.

Turning away the Oxford Mail, Rex Knight, the independent chairman of the scrutiny committee -- comprising city and county councillors -- and Vice Chancellor of Brookes University, said: "It is a private meeting as I told you yesterday."

But committee member and Labour county councillor John Power said: "It's a scandal, a slap in the face to the public."

Before the meeting at Oxford Brookes University, in Headington, Bicester Conservative county councillor Charles Shouler said: "It is not a private meeting, nor is it a public meeting.

"It is an informal meeting to which the public is not invited."

The Oxford Mail only found out about the meeting after briefing papers, which were not marked confidential, were leaked.

A spokesman for Oxfordshire County Council said there were no plans to issue a statement -- even after the event.

Mr Power said: "I had a grilling yesterday by officers wanting to discover how the Oxford Mail got hold of the papers about this meeting. That's all anyone was interested in. No-one cared that the public was being short-changed yet again.

"The only concern was how they'd been made to look foolish.

"You'd have thought after the roasting they got in the Press on Wednesday they'd have been smart enough to have said: 'Come in everybody, we've got nothing to hide. Come see and hear for yourselves.' But no, they haven't a clue how to be truly transparent."

The inquiry's future meetings will be held in public, although no dates have yet been published.

But Mr Power said the first meeting would, in many ways, be the most important.

"This is the meeting that will decide what should be included in the investigation and what should be excluded," he said. "If that isn't of crucial public interest, I don't know what is."

After the two-hour meeting, Mr Knight issued a statement saying: "This was the first time the nominees to sit on the inquiry had ever met as a group. The meeting was arranged so that we could meet each other and discuss the most basic ground rules.

"I am proud to volunteer to play a key part in this and hope that all members of the review can work together to ensure the public get the fair and independent inquiry the people of Oxford deserve."

The Cornmarket repaving scheme, a combined venture between the councils, was due to go ahead at a cost of £2.7m in 2002. The cost has since doubled and the work is still not finished.

The street has been a source of embarrassment for the county council, with repercussions also felt at the city council.

Several Labour city councillors blamed the loss of their seats in the June elections on the row about who was to blame for the fiasco. The independent inquiry was ordered after calls from Mr Power.

After the meeting, Mr Power declined to comment on its content, saying he wanted to give the committee a fair chance.