LEEDS City Council is poised to underwrite the initial costs of a new relief road in Otley.

Building the road is one of the conditions that has to be met before the 550 home East of Otley development can proceed. Last year Leeds City Council received £6.3 million of government money to help ‘kickstart’ work on the road, which is expected to cost £25 million in total.

The authority has since been told that the grant will have to be repaid - and plans to recoup the money by placing a levy on the developers.

The council’s Executive Board was due to consider that course of action on Wednesday, June 26.

Otley’s ward Councillors have all welcomed the move.

Councillor Colin Campbell (Lib Dem, Otley & Yeadon) said: “The cost will be recouped from the developers of the site but, because any development will be staggered, there could have been funding issues which could delay the project - so the city council is stepping in to underwrite the scheme.”