A Liberal Democrat councillor has lodged an appeal against his expulsion from the party for publicly campaigning against the Beddington incinerator.

Coun Nick Mattey says he was denied the opportunity to challenge his accusers when he faced a disciplinary hearing in January.

He was given the boot last month after a panel ruled he brought the party into disrepute with a 1,500-word letter in which he backed the “stop the incinerator” campaign and called for his fellow councillors to “think independently and critically about air pollution”.

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Coun Mattey’s appeal application argues many of those who provided evidence to the investigating officer were not present at the hearing – including the original complainant John Drage.

In a letter to the party, Coun Mattey wrote: “By their failure to attend the hearing I was therefore denied the opportunity to question and/or challenge my accusers by way of cross-examination in front of what should be a panel which was approaching matters impartially and with an open mind.

“This cannot be right in terms of natural justice apart from anything else and it does not accord with the proper operation of the disciplinary process.”

At a conduct hearing last month, it was agreed he publicly opposed the council’s decision to build the incinerator and had actively campaigned against Liberal Democrat candidates in public.

The disciplinary panel also upheld a complaint that Coun Mattey distributed political flyers containing “strong anti Lib Dem messages and anti-incineration messages” to support his son in a by-election.

He was suspended in April after writing the letter, which detailed “why the council should stop trying to help Viridor build an Incinerator in Beddington” and then criticised councillors for standing “shoulder to shoulder” with the company behind the project.

After lodging his appeal, Coun Mattey said: “It is in no way natural justice not to get the chance to challenge the complaints against me.”