Critics called for a public inquiry into the HS2 rail link last night after its PR chief spent tens of thousands of pounds on coasters, T-shirts and tickets to party conferences.

As part of its lobbying efforts, hundreds of pounds were also spent on social media monitoring to track what people were saying about the high-speed line on forums such as Twitter and Facebook.

Five members of the management team – including its PR chief – spent £83,000 on Whitehall credit cards in 2015.

Critics called for a public inquiry into the HS2 rail link last night after its PR chief spent tens of thousands of pounds

Last night, one MP demanded a ‘root-and-branch review’ of HS2 to see whether taxpayers were getting value for money.

The company behind HS2 came under fire this month after it emerged that as well as its own PR department it used 17 other PR firms and 12 consultancies.

But a Freedom of Information request has now revealed how HS2’s in-house spin machine is spending its money.

It shows that corporate affairs director Janine Mantle was the biggest spender, with a large portion of her budget spent taking HS2 Ltd’s PR offensive to party conferences.

She spent £5,055 on passes to the Labour conference, £4,250 on passes to the Tory conference and just under £2,000 on passes to the SNP conference, even though HS2 will not go beyond York.

A total of just under £6,000 was spent on hotels for the party conference season.

She also spent £933 and £566 for ‘coasters for workshops’, and £388.80 on T-shirts for an event at Euston.

Other purchases included £51.69 on a guide to the Freedom of Information Act.

A computer generated image of artist impression of the proposed HS2 station at Euston in London

The company behind HS2 came under fire this month after it emerged that as well as its own PR department it used 17 other PR firms and 12 consultancies

Cheryl Gillan, MP for Chesham and Amersham, said: ‘The accountability of HS2 must be seriously questioned as this use of precious public funds cannot be justified.

'A new Government should conduct a root-and-branch review to assess its value for money, the competence of its senior personnel and its governance.’

Construction on the first phase of the scheme from London to Birmingham is set to begin this year.

A spokesman for HS2 said: 'HS2 has a legal obligation to consult affected communities, support the bill’s passage through parliament, and help people and the supply chain understand how the project affects them.

'To this end, HS2 has engaged the support of various technical, logistical and event companies, while always ensuring value for money for the taxpayer in any communications spend.'