Consultants have praised Keighley's £18.7 million regeneration project as "exemplary".

They reveal that many of the 140 projects over-achieved by exceeding their targets. And the town's Single Regeneration Board was singled out for its "transparency and openness."

The only black mark in the seven-year project, which attracted £45 million into the town, was its failure to pump enough resources into marketing. It meant recognition of the SRB work among residents was low, consultants claimed.

A big disappointment was the collapse of Keighley Business Forum, which was eventually replaced by the Keighley Business Partnership.

The Russell Street initiative attracted special praise for its innovative approach to dealing with youth-offending.

And the Property Investment Fund, which offered grants to improve the quality and choice of accommodation for businesses, was highlighted for its special success.

The success of the project is now to be carried forward by the Keighley & District Regeneration Alliance.

A Bradford Council spokesman said: "In spite of the positive impact of the programme, some issues it sought to address are deep-rooted and could not possibly have been tackled in the time and with the resources available.

"There is therefore a need to maintain the momentum. This will be taken forward by the Keighley & District Regeneration Alliance."

The consultants' report will be presented to City Hall's overview and scrutiny committee when it meets on Tuesday. It reveals that during the lifetime of the project it helped create 1,194 jobs and safeguard an additional 3,353.

In education and training - which was allocated £3.8 million - 46,317 students went on projects to improve attainment.

Housing, allotted the highest funding of £6.5 million, saw improvements to 2,515 council homes. Fewer residents now have a fear of crime - a fall from 81 per cent in 1996 to 49 per cent in 2001. And they and business people believe the look of the town centre has improved over the last five years

But a majority still consider the centre is not a safe place to live and business people think the town centre is not a safe place to work.

The report concludes that "integrity, openness and transparency characterised the board from the outset and there is a strong view that partnership working improved and community involvement was strengthened".