A PILOT scheme to provide affordable homes for key workers in the Yorkshire Dales could be expanded if it succeeds.

The national park authority has joined forces with Skipton Building Society and Craven District Council in a bid to ensure workers are not priced out.

The scheme, announced on Tuesday, would see £10m invested in new rental housing in the park. The idea is believed to be unique in the UK.

A pilot scheme will be tried in the Craven area before being rolled out across the park. The aim is to encourage key workers to stay in the dales or to move in to fill vital roles in the community and local economy.

Once a need is identified in an area, the national park authority will help find suitable sites. The building society will fund the construction of two- and three-bedroomed homes, to be let to key workers at below-market rents.

Jerry Pearlman, who chaired Tuesday's meeting, said: "Today has been a landmark day in the history of the authority. We have given favourable consideration to the solutions to problems that have caused concern to us and to the people who live and work in the park."

Authority member Yvonne Peacock said the authority's involvement was vital.

"A lot of work is going to be needed, but for the authority not to be at the table would be totally wrong," she said. "If you don't sustain your communities, which have kept this area as it is for hundreds of years, then one day you will turn round and find there is no-one there to do the work."

David Butterworth, the authority's chief executive, said: "As far as I am aware this is the first scheme of its kind in the country.

"The question of access to services and affordable housing is of concern to the authority and, by getting involved in this scheme, we have yet again shown our commitment to the long-term future of the communities in the dales."

Exact details of the scheme have yet to be finalised, but the building society would pay for the land and the construction and remain owners of the properties. Sites, which would be small, have also to be identified.

Research is also underway to identify the need for key workers and the types of workers required.

A survey of national park residents last year showed that 69pc believed the lack of affordable housing was the biggest single threat to the future of dales communities.

The Countryside Alliance has welcomed proposals by the national park authority to limit the sale of new houses to local people and key workers.

The authority last week delayed adopting the new housing policy to allow the full implications of a planning inspector's comments to be assessed. The aim is to prevent newly-built homes from becoming second homes and holiday lets.

Countryside Alliance chief executive, Simon Hart, said: "Planning decisions should be led by the local community and housing policy must be based on proven housing need.

The local authority has a duty to provide decent affordable housing, both private and public, close to where the jobs are. What the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority is proposing is exactly that: consulting with the local community and adopting policies which encourage sustainability.

"If we are to produce sufficient affordable homes at a decent standard this cannot be left to private developers alone - this must be in partnership with local authorities as a public/private partnership.

"We need a completely new rural policy making "mindset". In the same way that urban planning focuses on promoting the interests of urban residents, the rural planning process should re-focus on ensuring the viability of the rural communities - and the culture, values and traditions which keep our countryside special."

l See: CLA attack's 'missed opportunity' of housing police change, page