A MULTI-MILLION pound bypass that looked likely to be affected by public spending cuts may yet be thrown a lifeline.

Plans for the A684 Bedale, Aiskew and Leeming Bar bypass, in North Yorkshire, were put on hold last year, pending the outcome of the Comprehensive Spending Review.

North Yorkshire County Council has agreed to submit an “expression of interest” in getting the scheme back on the agenda at the Department for Transport (DfT).

The scheme will now go into what the DfT calls a development pool, with 21 similar projects from around the UK, including a bridge over the River Wear, in Sunderland.

Although the Bedale bypass is still a possibility, the reality is that the scheme remains a long way from going ahead.

The county council has set the maximum financial risk it is willing to expose itself to at £14.8m, depending on what stage of the development process the scheme reaches.

Merely submitting an expression of interest will cost about £60,000.

It is not clear how many schemes from the development pool the DfT will proceed with, or whether the local authorities responsible for the other projects will be minded to submit expressions of interest relating to their own projects.

Bedale Mayor Bob Pocklington said he remained hopeful the bypass would be built.

He said: “It has not totally been written off yet. It is now a question of value for money and prioritising the various schemes that want funding.

“I am not of the opinion that the bypass would solve all the traffic problems in the town, but I am hopeful it will get the go-ahead.”

David Bowe, the county council’s corporate director for business and environmental services, said just under £2m worth of work had been carried out on the project prior to progress being halted.

The DfT is not expected to decide on which schemes to proceed with until the autumn at the earliest.

Supporters say the bypass, which was first proposed more than 20 years ago, would ease traffic congestion in the three communities. An estimated 14,000 vehicles a day use the cross-country A684 route.