More than £90,000 was spent on the public inquiry into the now abandoned Area Plan for the North and West.

The Cabinet Office confirmed that a total of £92,321 was spent on the nine-day inquiry which was held in July last year.

This figure includes advertising, preparation, organisation and running of the hearing.

Tynwald rejected the Area Plan in a combined voted at November’s sitting, amid concerns that it would mean hundreds of acres of greenfield sites being zoned for housing.

Cabinet Office Minister David Ashford has confirmed that the Area Plan is now legally dead in the water.

He said: ‘The only way under the law is to start the process again - and go back out for a call for sites and an independent inquiry.’