AN £800,000 bid for Government cash which could have ended Ilkley's traffic problems has been unsuccessful.

West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Authority, Metro, learned yesterday it will not be given hundreds of thousands of pounds from the Department for Transport (DfT) towards improvements to Wharfedale bus services.

Several schemes to improve public transport - and hopefully alleviate Ilkley's traffic congestion and all-day parking problems - depended on the money.

However, Metro says it has not given up on the scheme, and may look for other cash sources or 'repackage' and resubmit the bid in future.

Among the changes proposed in the bid were earlier shuttle bus services enabling commuters to get to Ilkley station for connecting peak time trains to their workplace in Leeds or Bradford. Councillors believed this would prevent residents driving into Ilkley and leaving their cars parked on the streets all day.

Metro submitted the bid in October - but the Wharfedale scheme was not among the successful bidders for the £20 million Challenge announced by Transport Minister Tony McNulty yesterday.

Ward councillor Martin Smith said he was disappointed the bid had failed.

"I've been trying for this for two-and-a-half years. We got the support of the parish council to carrying out some canvassing, and we thought we were on to a winner this time," he said.

"It's a great disappointment and it is short-sightedness. This is extremely important in Ilkley as we do have the situation where residents and people from adjacent villages are coming into Ilkley to park their cars all day."

He believes commuters would be willing to leave their cars at home and catch a reliable minibus service to the station. This would then give more parking space to shoppers and people working in Ilkley.

The bid was backed up by information gathered from passengers and commuters who completed the 2003 Ilkley Parish Transport Survey, plus information from Addingham Village Design Statement and Ilkley Design Statement.

The transport survey questionnaires were distributed around the parish and were collected by Ilkley Parish Council and Metro officers. The questionnaire asked how people currently got about in Wharfedale and what public transport they would like to see.

Other improvements lined up under the scheme included a bus service linking Ilkley with Airedale General Hospital, Steeton, improving the local infrastructure and enhancing the local bus network.

A Metro spokesman said: "In making a substantial bid to the Department for Transport to enhance bus services in the Wharfe Valley, Metro has recognised there is a need for improvements but unfortunately the DfT has taken the decision not to fund the £800,000 proposals this time."

He added: "Metro will continue to look at what it can do to help meet local people's transport needs from current resources and will take a decision on whether to re-submit the scheme to the DfT for future Bus Challenge funding, as it has successfully done with other schemes."

A DfT spokesman said many schemes had applied for a share of the £20million funding from the 2003 Rural Bus Challenge, and not all could be successful.

Successful bidders in Yorkshire included Metro's scheme for travel links around Todmorden. The project won a £755,500 grant towards enhancing and extending the Todmorden area's limited bus network with new services reaching healthcare and shopping facilities.

Past winners of rural bus awards include the Otley area.