A DECISION on a revolutionary rapid transport system linking Darlington and Teesside has been delayed until the autumn at a cost of £30,000, it was revealed last night.

Consultants were this week due to make recommendations on whether a metro, trams or a type of bus which runs on rails were most suitable for linking town centres and industrial areas across the Tees Valley.

But the Tees Valley Partnership has commissioned the consultants to work for a further three months to carry out wider research into how the system would boost jobs and regeneration in the area, which will delay the report's conclusion.

Consultants will choose which method of transport is best and discover what benefits it would bring to the area, to make the business case for funding stronger.

Andy Hyams, director of transport on the Tees Valley Partnership, said the study had been widened to strengthen the case for Government and private funding from the City.

He said: "We were always going to do this research, but it was going to be later on. For a number of reasons, we have decided to carry it out now, with the money we had earmarked for it. The consultants will now look at the wider picture of what impact the transport system will have on the Tees Valley.

He said: "We need to present a strong business case for funding - we are part of a long line of local authorities queuing up for this kind of thing.

"This is our one chance to get everything right.

"It is a fairly close call between the three systems and now we have to look at the wider impact they could have."

Experts will consider the economic effects of running the system to new developments, such as Faverdale and Morton Palms, in Darlington, and other potential sites.

Mr Hyams said: "Sites which have the potential for development could be completely transformed by this.

"You just have to look at London Docklands, when a railway was built to a site with very little there, and look at it now.

"We could do that for parts of the Tees Valley, although not on quite the same scale."

The report follows a study commissioned by OneNorth-East, English Partnerships and the Tees Valley local authorities last year.