SKIPTON and East Lancashire Rail Action Partnership (SELRAP) chairman Peter Bryson has responded to the HS2 cancellation news.

SELRAP has been working with government and Network Rail to reinstate the strategic trans-Pennine Skipton to Colne railway.

Mr Bryson said: “If this government wants a public transport project that is tailor-made to level up deprived communities, then the Skipton to Colne project is it.

"This project requires a tiny fraction of the funding just released by the cancellation of HS2. Members of Parliament along the route all fully support this vital project and they want it delivered quickly. The Government needs to put the money where its mouth is.

"Astinighingly, Accrington, in the heart of East Lancashire, was, in January,  where the Prime Minister and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt relaunched the Conservative Party’s election manifesto Levelling Up commitment.  East Lancashire is one of the most deprived places in England. Yet, not a penny promised."