BRADFORD has missed out on more than £6 million in "lifeline" funding handed to the cultural industry in Yorkshire.

This Government investment will be handed to three organisations across the county, with Bradford not seeing a penny after no groups in the district applied for funding support.

The £6,147,902 of funding is part of a £18.7m investment by the Department for Digital, Culture Media and Sport and Arts Council England to eight of the country's "major cultural institutions" to support them through the Covid-19 pandemic.

In Yorkshire, Leeds-based Opera North is getting a £2m grant to keep going, while Sheffield City Trust is receiving £2.2m and the North York Moors Historic Railway Trust is being awarded £1.9m.

These awards are the second round of grants between £1m and £3m; in the first round Bradford did not see any money either.

Sixteen organisations in the district received a total of £2.28m in the first round of under £1m funding, and in the second round three organisations shared £182,457.

Thornton Parish Church Parochial Church Council has also received £33,100 from Historic England and the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

More than £700,000 has also been handed to 61 local groups from the Arts Council's Emergency Response Fund. It also supports 11 National Portfolio Organisations in Bradford with more than £7m as part of its 2018-22 portfolio.

An Arts Council England spokesperson said: "Whilst no Bradford-based organisations applied to the grants round announced today, in the wake of Covid-19 arts and cultural organisations in Bradford have received £3.2m in emergency and response funding alone, via Arts Council England and thanks to funding from the government and National Lottery players.”

The money is being distributed in the Government's £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund.

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden, said: “These grants will help the places that have shaped our skylines for hundreds of years and that continue to define culture in our towns and cities."

Sarah Maxfield, area director North for Arts Council England added: “The pandemic has had a massive impact on the whole range of organisations working in the North’s cultural sector - theatres, music venues, festivals, museums and the companies who support them with technical sound, light and staging services.

"The cultural sector makes a huge contribution to The North’s economy, quality of life and communities.

"Today we are announcing much needed investment and support from the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund to a group of organisations across the North - with more announcements in the coming weeks - providing an essential lifeline so the cultural sector can survive and come back strongly in the future.”