Outside elected mayors 'insulted' Cheshire East by putting forward two potential rail schemes which will plough through the borough but bypass Crewe and bring no benefits to locals, councillors said.

The first scheme is the proposed Liverpool to Manchester railway section of Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) project.

The second is for a Midland to North West Rail Link – a possible alternative scheme to the scrapped phase two section of HS2.

At this week's meeting of the full council, councillors voted to 'provisionally support' both schemes – but only if they're re-worked so Crewe and Cheshire East benefits.

Many councillors were angry the schemes, as they stand, would see several miles of new railway passing through Cheshire East with no benefit.

The Liverpool to Manchester proposal does not include any direct connectivity benefit for Cheshire East or any of its railway stations

The Midlands to North West Rail Link does not provide the investment and connectivity benefits to Crewe that HS2 offered and does not include any improvements to Crewe station.

It also potentially proposes a tunnel that could effectively allow new services to bypass the station.

Council leader Nick Mannion (Macclesfield, Lab) said: "We were insulted, because when the report that was commissioned by the mayors of the West Midlands and of Greater Manchester was published that morning, the first I knew was when a BBC journalist phoned me up and asked me what comments I had.

"We weren't even in the room on that, and we've made our views very clear since."

He said the council's support would only be 'conditional' and the schemes must be re-worked so they benefit Cheshire East.

"If they're going to build these railways, they need Cheshire East on board," said Cllr Mannion.

"And if we're going to be on board, we need to make sure we protect our communities, mitigate the impact on the communities that are going to be affected, and also we can exploit the opportunities."

Opposition group leader Janet Clowes (Wybunbury, Con) was also clearly angry at the way Cheshire East had been treated.

"We have had the pain already. We have had the expense. We have had the environmental surveys, the early mitigation works, the compensation, the safeguarded land," she said, referring to the scrapped HS2 scheme.

"What a waste of money if we don't take advantage of that now.

"The idea that three mayors on territory outside Cheshire East might seek to act on us but without us is totally unacceptable… How dare they?"

Cllr Rod Fletcher. (Cheshire East Council)

Cllr Rod Fletcher (Alsager, Lib Dem), who worked on the railways for many years, said: "Any proposals to build a new line to increase capacity that passes close to but avoids Crewe is bonkers.

"My message to this Labour government is, if you are really serious about better connectivity in public transport, this new line has to have full connectivity with most services stopping at Crewe."

High Legh councillor Kate Hague (Con), who was one of six councillors who voted against provisionally supporting the schemes, said: "While these projects are presented as transformative for the north, they offer no meaningful benefit to Cheshire East and unfairly treat the ward (High Legh) as expendable."

She added: "High Legh is a rural area that faces destruction of green spaces, increased noise pollution and daily disruption, all without improved connectivity or investment in return."