BUSINESS and education leaders in West Yorkshire have called on Chancellor George Osborne to strike a devolution deal with the Leeds City Region in his budget.

Representatives of more than 60 businesses have written an open letter to Mr Osborne saying such a deal was the "missing piece in its Northern Powerhouse project".

Signatories included Leeds-Bradford airport chief John Parkin, Bradford University vice-chancellor Professor Brian Cantor, Bradford College chief executive Andy Welsh and Yorkshire Building Society chairman John Heaps.

The letter said: "As the UK's largest functional economic area outside London and the South East, the Leeds City Region is clearly central to your vision of an economically successful and globally competitive Northern Powerhouse being fulfilled.

"As northern business and education leaders, we have major concerns about the continued absence of a meaningful devolution deal for such a significant economic area with a core city at its heart.

"We believe that further delays in securing such a deal would be to the detriment of jobs, growth and business investment, not just in our region but across the north and beyond."

Mr Osborne has been unwilling to choose between two rival bids, one for the Leeds City Region and another which would cover a wider area of Yorkshire.

Devolution deals have already been struck with other areas of the North, including Greater Manchester, Liverpool and Sheffield, as part of Mr Osborne's Northern Powerhouse project.