PLANS to reopen the railway between Harrogate and Ripon could be put on hold.

A report by transport planning consultants about the plan was presented to North Yorkshire County Council this week.

The report recommends that reopening the line - shut to passengers in March 1967 - should not form part of their current transport strategy up to 2016.

The latest report, by Leeds-based planning consultants Atkins, is part of the Harrogate and Knaresborough integrated transport study which will go out to public consultation shortly.

It says: "Given the current well-documented financial problems in the rail industry, it is likely that any reopening will be a much longer-term measure."

It had been hoped the reopening of the 11-mile line would give the community better access to work, education, health care and shopping.

An earlier report said a Leeds-Harrogate-Ripon service could be economically viable, with between 1,200 and 2,000 passengers a day potentially using the line.

County councillor Peter Sowray, executive member for transport, said the council still supported the reopening but admitted it could be a slower process than first anticipated.

Adrian Morgan, founder of the Ripon Railway Reinstatement Association, said it knew from the outset the reopening would be dependent on funding from government.

"We are a pressure group and we shall just have to keep pushing it forward. That is what we are there for," he said.

The association hoped that a forecast of 30,000 extra jobs being created in Leeds in the next 15 to 20 years would help to boost the Ripon-Harrogate-Leeds line, hopefully with electrification. Roads into Leeds would not be able to cope with the increase in vehicles and the railway would be vital for commuters.