COUNCILLORS will be asked to approve spending of more than £330,000 on a business plan aimed at securing funding for a bypass to serve three traffic-clogged communities.

The proposed £36m road, which would divert traffic from Bedale, Aiskew and Leeming Bar, is being proposed by North Yorkshire County Council.

Members of the authority's executive will be asked to approve funding for a major schemes business case, at a cost of £333,000.

The case would be submitted to the Government, who would then decide if the scheme, towards which it would give £31.4m, will go ahead.

In a report to the committee, Richard Flinton, the council's director of business and environmental services, recommends that: Members allocate £333,000 from the corporate miscellaneous budget to fund the development of the case for submission; Prior to submission of the case for assessment, a report be brought back to the executive, seeking approval to proceed.

The report to committee members considers the legal implications of the bypass plan, including the need to purchase private land for the development.

It states: "It is highly likely that the county council will not be able to acquire all the land by negotiation, and will need to proceed to acquire the land through compulsory purchase.

"Should objections be received, a public inquiry may be required."

Plans for the bypass, which have been on the drawing board for more than 14 years, have received regional backing from the Yorkshire and Humber Assembly's regional transport board, which decides on priority transport schemes in the region.

It is estimated the bypass, which will link the A684 to the A1, could cut traffic in the three towns by up to 60 per cent.

The council's preferred scheme for the bypass would see the road run through a new motorway junction, to be built by the Highways Agency north of Leeming Bar.

A spokesman for the Department for Transport said: "We cannot say how likely it is to get the go-ahead. They are bidding for the funding and the scheme will be looked at and a decision made."

The committee will discuss the recommendations at its meeting, at County Hall, in Northallerton, on Tuesday.