A new cycle route along a disused railway line - passing the site of a Roman fort - would cost £500,000 to set up, a report has revealed.

The national cycle campaigning group Sustrans is urging Craven District Council to seek cash help to establish the Skipton to Earby cycle track.

The Sustrans study, which is backed the Council, claims it would have huge benefits for residents and tourists in the Skipton area.

It warns the biggest hurdle to the success of the project, which will be discussed by Craven's economic and development committee on Thursday was getting funding.

But grants could be won from the arts and sports lottery, Countryside Commission, North Yorkshire County Council, English Partnerships, Europe and Yorventure, an environmental action group backed by Government funds, it advises.

A Council spokesman said: "If Craven is able to develop the scheme, it will not only have huge benefits for residents and tourists, but it will do much to reinforce the Council's credentials in relation to protecting the environment and the promotion of sustainable regeneration."

The route, which will also be open to horse riders, is planned to link with the Pendle cycleway running from Earby to Colne, the Yorkshire Dales Cycleway, which starts at Skipton, the Pennine Way, Pennine Bridleway and Pennine Walkway.

Most of the land which it passes through is in private ownership and landowners would have to agree to the scheme. A Sustrans spokesman said: "Almost the entire length is surrounded by high quality landscape and in particular it passes through Broughton Hall estate, one of the North's most important rural estates.

"Since much of the railway was built on high embankments, the route gives excellent panoramic views of the delightful countryside."

It is hoped the route would be decorated with sculptured seats and milestones and focal points for meeting and resting.

The scheme could involve the appointment of an arts co-ordinator who would work to develop projects along the route, he added.

Until the early 1960s, the route carried the railway between Skipton and Colne in Lancashire but in earlier times formed part of the Roman road between Ilkley and Ribchester.

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