Merton Council has been accused of mismanagement and maladministration over claims it approved a planning application before a public consultation had ended.

The Mitcham Cricket Green and Community Heritage Group (MCGCHG) have lodged an official complaint over the council's handling of an application for a permanent market canopy as part of a £6.2m Rediscover Mitcham project.

Tony Burton, a trustee with MCGCHG said consultation on the amended plans for the canopy, which included a reduction in its size, had not finished by the time the officers had drawn up recommendations to approve it and have called for the plans to be put on hold.

In a letter to the council, a spokesperson for the group said: "We find this cavalier approach shocking.

"It treats both the public and councillors with contempt and undermines the already fragile trust which exists between the Council and the community on these proposals."

"Officers have reached conclusions before the public consultation period has been completed.

"This cannot be right."

The group believe the scale of the proposed canopy, with a frame of 16m by 19m and a height of 7.25m, is out of keeping with the surrounding townscape and its construction would be "dominant and overbearing" compared to the "modest buildings" in the area.

Councillors are set to discuss the canopy application at a planning meeting tonight.

The Rediscover Mitcham project includes plans for a board walk around the Three Kings Pond and a newly landscaped Fair Green with a 'bus street' through it which has caused controversy since it was first proposed.

Councillor Andrew Judge, cabinet member for environment and regeneration, said the reason the application for the canopy was submitted early was so that if approved by councillors it would be able to meet the timescale set out by the Mayor of London to benefit fully from funding available for the project.

Coun judge said: "We know that, in our most recent consultation on proposals for the town centre, over 70 per cent of people supported the idea of the market canopy, and this was well before the planning application was submitted.

"All comments we receive about the planning application for the canopy will be fully considered by the planning applications committee on its own merits."