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Business leaders in Leicestershire were not consulted about the proposal for the region to merge its LEP submission with Derby, Nottingham and their county councils, Insider has been told. Martin Traynor, the chief executive of Leicestershire Chamber of Commerce, has blasted the council’s move. He said: “Leicestershire County Council’s proposal [to join the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire LEP] is not supported by Leicestershire businesses. It was a political move, not an economical one.”

“Businesses here are adamant that they want their own LEP".

Traynor’s comments come after Insider revealed that the leader of Leicestershire County Council, David Parsons, had approached the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire bid and proposed a merger. It is not yet known whether those spearheading the bid will accept Leicestershire’s proposal.

Traynor said: “These LEPs are supposed to be led by businesses. How can this be so if the region’s businesses are not consulted before such a major move is made?”

He added that Leicester and Leicestershire’s business council had written to business secretary Vince Cable and communities secretary Eric Pickles, informing them that the region’s businesses were in support of the original bid encompassing Leicester and Leicestershire.

The letter states that the business council sees “no economic logic in the creation of a 'Super LEP' other than for pure political ends”.

It also says that The East Midlands Business Forum, which includes the CBI, the Forum of Small Businesses (FSB) and the institute of Directors (IoD), were not consulted about the move.

Earlier this month, a speculative "success" list of LEP proposals was allegedly leaked from Whitehall which included both the joint Derbyshire, Derby, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire bid and the separate Leicester and Leicestershire proposal.

Submissions from Northamptonshire, South East Midlands and Greater Lincolnshire appeared to have been omitted, although the government was quick to distance itself from the supposed "success" list.

The LEPs will replace regional development agencies such as the East Midlands Development Agency (Emda) in 2012.

Leicestershire County Coucnil said it could not comment on the story.