A row has erupted between leading councillors in Bradford and Huddersfield over which area should receive more money to improve rail and road links.

Eleven Yorkshire councils – including Bradford – are drawing up a 15-year regional transport plan worth £4.5bn.

But Kirklees Council’s Cabinet has threatened to veto the plan unless Huddersfield is made a top priority. It is upset that Huddersfield is only ranked as a B1 priority behind Bradford, which is classed as an A priority.

Coun Peter McBride, Kirklees Council’s cabinet member for transport, is reported to have said the priorities were not in the interests of the Leeds City Region as a whole, claiming Huddersfield was more economically active than Bradford.

But today, Councillor Anne Hawkesworth, Bradford Council’s executive member with responsibility for transport, said the priorities were correct.

She said: “I would vehemently challenge what Kirklees are saying.

“Bradford is an extremely important part of the Leeds City Region.

“If you look at the housing targets imposed on Bradford by Government and the number of jobs we need to retain and create, you can see that we have no chance of achieving those numbers without improved transport infrastructure.

“The reality is that, with the level of requirement demanded of Bradford, the whole region fails if we fail to hit those targets.”

Top priorities in the plan include transforming the ‘regional city’ of Bradford, developing the role of Leeds, and improving access to Leeds Bradford Airport, in Yeadon. Coun Hawkesworth said priorities had been drawn up by independent consultants after a process that included Kirklees.

She said: “We have all been in opposition in West Yorkshire at some time in the past when we haven’t quite got what we wanted. But, in terms of the priorities in the regional transport plan, I think the decision is a safe decision.”