Ilkley Literature Festival has been awarded £5,000 in the latest pay-out of arts grants.

The news - which come on World Book Day - ties in with the announcement of the dates for its Millennium Festival.

Dominic Gregory, director of the Ilkley Literature Festival, said: "It's wonderful news. We have some great names lined up but we're not letting too much out of the bag."

This year the festival will run from Saturday, September 30 until Sunday, October 22.

The major highlight of 2000 is the world premiere of the commission of new work by Yorkshire-born AS Byatt, author of the internationally-acclaimed Possession, a Booker prize winner in 1990.

Mr Gregory said: "The Ilkley Literature Festival has a long tradition of commissioning new work from writers such as Ted Hughes and Angela Carter.

"AS Byatt is one of our finest living authors; we are extremely privileged that she will be appearing and performing her new work at the festival this year."

Bradford Film Ltd, which is part of Pictureville cinema and the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television, also scooped £10,000 for the next financial year from West Yorkshire Joint Services, a body of the county's Councils.

Bradford Film hosts the Bradford Film Festival which is running in the city until March 18.

Bradford's head of cinema Bill Lawrence said the money would support programmes at cinemas in the city.

"It's good news and will help towards programming at cinemas in the city, as well as the Hebden Bridge cinema and Shipley Flicks," he said.

"We want to be able to offer people in Bradford the best and with funding like this it will be possible. We want to bring a different range of films to the city to make sure that people in West Yorkshire have the chance to see films that people in London and Manchester are seeing."

The grant will help strengthen the Film Festivals on the international circuit and attract more people to the cinema.

l Brochures for this year's Ilkley Literature Festival will be available in July.

They can be ordered by writing to the Ilkley Literature Festival, The Manor House, Ilkley, LS29 9DT, telephone (01943) 601210.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.