The BBC's Paul Rowley reports

Alan Meale, MP for Mansfield, has denied acting improperly on behalf of the centre in north London, 140 miles from his Nottinghamshire constituency, which includes a new stadium for Barnet Football Club.

But Conservative Party chairman Michael Ancram has accused the minister of "unacceptable cronyism" and "extraordinary and outrageous" conduct.

He called for Mr Meale to step down if he could not provide an "immediate, full and credible" explanation for his activities.

'Football fan'

According to the Sunday Times newspaper, the scheme was proposed by the owner of Barnet Football Club, Greek-Cypriot businessman Tony Kleanthous, who, the paper said, had known Mr Meale since 1995.

The minister told the paper that he had intervened in the matter because he was a football fan and because he had a record of support for the sport in Parliament. He denied acting improperly.

A spokesman for the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, said the minister did not want to go beyond his comments to the Sunday Times.

Richard Caborn: Urged by Mr Meale to support scheme

The newspaper reports that Mr Meale began lobbying for the scheme earlier in the year when he was parliamentary private secretary to Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott.

He was later promoted to the position of minister in Mr Prescott's Department for the Environment, Transport and the Regions.

During the planning inquiry, which ended three months ago, Mr Meale is alleged to have written a series of letters to senior civil servants and the planning minister Richard Caborn urging them to back the scheme.

The inspector's report on the application is now due to go to Mr Prescott for a decision.

The Sunday Times describes Mr Kleanthous as a prominent member of the Greek-Cypriot community in the UK.

It said lobbying groups for the community donated thousands of pounds to Labour and allegedly paid for Mr Meale and his wife to go on trips to Cyprus.

The visits were not paid for by Mr Kleanthous who, according to the paper, denies making donations to Labour.

'Unacceptable cronyism'

Mr Ancram said: "This story discloses the most disturbing evidence of unacceptable cronyism that we have seen so far."

He said it was "quite extraordinary and outrageous" for a minister to seek to intervene in a planning decision in this way.

"The public are owed an immediate and full explanation, including full details of what Mr Meale has done, what his relationship with Mr Kleanthous is, whether he has personally received any generosity from him and, if so, when.