Trams peace-maker cost city £3,000 a day

London-based consultant Michael Shane was drafted in after talks between Bilfinger Berger and the local authority came to a standstill.

His 14,700 bill for five days of work has been slammed by critics.

Margo MacDonald, independent MSP for the Lothians, said: "This is a hefty bill for something that could have been done free.

"John Campbell, QC, offered to mediate for nothing. This is a man who was counsel to the inquiry into the building of the Scottish Parliament.

"I thought he would have been more than able to mediate between these two groups.

"It was a wasted opportunity from the council to show that they could save money on the tram project for once."

The talks took place in March at the upmarket Mar Hall hotel in Glasgow.

Tram chiefs racked up nearly 13,000 on accommodation and expenses, bringing the total cost of the "intensive" meetings to nearly 28,000 - or almost 6,000 a day.

Emma Boon, of the Taxpayer's Alliance, said: "It's seriously disappointing that after so much time and money spent on this project already there is still such poor communication between the two sides.

"Ordinary taxpayers shouldn't have to fork out for mediation because those in charge of the tram project can't agree.

"It's in everyone's interests that these differences are resolved as quickly as possible, so that no more taxpayer's money is wasted."

Officials deemed the talks, which reportedly went on until 3am, successful after it was announced that work on the scheme would restart.

A spokesman for TIE, which manages the tram project for the council, said: "Mediation was an essential step in moving forward to deliver trams for the city, drawing on the required expertise to restart work, deliver value for the investment made so far and deliver long-term transport benefits for Edinburgh."

Mr Shane has been involved in the mediation of disputes across the globe. He was unavailable for comment.

Councillors in Edinburgh recently decided to carry on with the city's troubled trams project - but will have to find another 200 million to fund it.

A five-hour meeting of councillors two weeks ago considered a number of options, including scrapping the project which would have cost up to 750m.

However, a majority backed a Liberal Democrat motion to fund the line as far as St Andrew Square at a cost of 770m. The original estimated cost of the line from Edinburgh Airport to Newhaven was put at 545m.The St Andrew Square option is expected to be confirmed at the next full council meeting on 25 August, pending further information on costs, timescale and associated risks, ahead of the 31 August deadline agreed as part of the mediation process.

In May, a report said work so far had cost 440m - about 80 per cent of the original budget - with huge sections of the line still to be completed.