One of the three companies bidding for a contract to take over the management of Bradford Council buildings, land and services has pulled out of the contest.

Union leaders say the withdrawal of Land Securities Trillium shows a lack of confidence in the controversial Asset Management Project (AMP) and have called for a rethink by those backing the scheme.

Bradford Council had been expecting a three-way competition to provide a winning bidder which could take over the management of many of the authority's buildings.

But now that the field is down to just two there is growing concern the Council will not be able to justify the deal.

Unison's regional officer Chris Jenkinson said: "We think this action reflects the lack of confidence there is in the whole concept of the asset-management project.

"We have been saying for some time that the project is simply too ambitious and that the finances don't stack up.

"So it is not at all a surprise that one of the three companies shortlisted has pulled out.

"We now want the Council to do what we have been asking for the last 12 months.

"We want them to demonstrate how it will stack up, how they will get the improvements necessary for the money they have available." But Councillor Simon Cooke, the Conservative group's executive member for regeneration, said: "The reason for the withdrawal is not anything we have done, it is purely commercial.

"They decided the amount of assets value we were planning to transfer was not enough.

"We have still got a competitive situation. It does not affect the project."

But the Bradford Labour group's deputy leader Councillor Dave Green said: "This is now down to a two- horse race, so there are further concerns about whether the Council's financial projections for this ill-thought-out scheme will be met."

Liberal Democrat leader Councillor Jeanette Sunderland also criticised the way the project was being handled by the Council's powerful Conservative-run executive committee.

She said: "In an environment where you have an all-out push to reduce costs, we have got seven people making this decision - it is fundamentally wrong."

In a joint statement on behalf of the authority and Land Securities Trillium, Linda Carmichaelk, the Council's AMP director, said: "I understand that, after further consideration, their view is that the project does not sufficiently match their business objectives."

The two remaining companies involved in the contest are Bradford Mapeley Accord and Carillion.