A £300,000 town centre transport scheme will be trimmed after backers miscalculated the costs.

The Clitheroe Interchange will integrate bus and rail services at a new purpose-built centre at the town's railway station.

The project is a joint initiative between Lancashire County Council, Ribble Valley Council, the Rural Development Commission, Railtrack and North Western Trains.

The scheme received cash from the Government's £11million drive to boost public transport in the regions.

Local authorities were invited to bid for funds to support innovative rural public transport schemes.

But a meeting of Ribble Valley Council's planning committee heard tenders for the scheme had been far higher than expected.

And the council was being asked to waive £25,000 in professional fees in order to meet the shortfall.

Chief engineer Graham Jagger said the scheme had also now been altered to meet the lower budget.

"Tenders for the scheme went beyond the budget earmarked for it and we have been asked to waive our bill for professional work to help meet the shortfall.

"But we are donating the land and our fees are very modest given the amount of time spent on this project."

LibDem leader Howel Jones said: "The scheme will have to be redesigned to meet the budget but no-one wants it to be jeopardised."

The ground-breaking scheme will include a control centre, passenger information system and waiting facilities.

Buses to the Ribble Valley's sparsely populated and scattered villages will be co-ordinated with the rail service.

The meeting delegated the matter for decision to a council working group.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.