HOPES of buying a new boat to take disabled people on pleasure cruises have been dashed by a failed lottery bid for £130,000.

Skipton and Craven Action for Disability launched an appeal in July to replace its ageing Marjorie Charlesworth boat because £30,000 was needed to bring it up to modern safety standards.

This week's letter refusing lottery funding and the high costs of maintaining the old boat could mean the service is withdrawn altogether for the coming season.

For the past 12 summers, the boat has daily taken people with disabilities and mobility problems on cruises along the canal.

But the letter from the Community Fund, which distributes lottery money, said: "Your application was unsuccessful because there was insufficient evidence of the need for the project.

"There was no firm evidence of the need for a new boat as no surveys or consultation had been undertaken. There was also a lack of consultation with users who will benefit from the project."

The letter said there was nothing to stop SCAD applying again.

Chairman Judith Carter said she and the board of trustees were "bitterly disappointed".

Since 1990 8,500 disabled people had enjoyed cruises on the boat, which is crewed by trained volunteers. "It offers them an extra dimension," said Mrs Carter.

She thought that SCAD's project was a worthwhile cause and should have been considered by the Community Fund in this, the European Year of the Disabled.

Mrs Carter added filling in the application forms was a daunting task for amateur fundraisers and had they known that additional evidence could have swayed the decision, it would have been sent.

SCAD gave itself one year to raise the money needed for the boat, and, with only £10,000 in the bank, the trustees have to make some difficult decisions.

They will have to decide whether money should be spent on the present boat to ensure it is safe for the coming season, or whether to decommission it until funds are found to buy a new one.