Cereal giant Kellogg’s has been accused of misleading staff in the campaign for a ‘no’ vote on the congestion charge, which will bring £3bn of public transport improvements to Greater Manchester.

An e-mail sent by Kellogg’s communications director, Chris Wermann, claimed staff would pay the maximum-possible charge to travel to the company’s Trafford offices.

He suggested staff could ‘cut and paste’ a response from a website of campaigners opposing the Transport Innovation Fund bid, and submit it in response to the official public consultation. And he claimed those coming in from the M60 to company offices in Trafford would pay £1,200 a year.

In fact, the offices would be outside the inner charging ring and the charge would be no more than £520 a year. Lis Phelan, chairman of the ‘yes’ campaign, said: ‘This situation raises serious questions about the credibility of those opposing the transport investment and congestion charge proposals.

‘Kellogg’s has continuously claimed its premises were inside the inner charging zone and would cost it and its employees thousands of pounds a year. Now Mr Wermann has publicly admitted his company has no idea where the charging rings are, or how it will be affected.’

And a spokesman for the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities, which is behind the TIF bid, said: ‘We are happy to meet with Mr Wermann at any time to confirm to him that his premises on Talbot Road sit outside the inner-charging boundary, and reassure him on any other aspects of the charge’s operation.’ Under the £3bn transport investment plans, a major new rail interchange would be built at White City, close to the Kellogg’s site, while several new tramlines and improved bus services would run nearby.

Wermann said: ‘I stand by the e-mail I sent out. I made it quite clear that there is absolutely no pressure on staff to vote one way or the other. It is totally up to them what they do.’