A government agency is battling to recoup part of the £8.3 million invested into the troubled Transperience Discovery Park at Low Moor.

English Partnerships would not reveal the amount of cash it was seeking to claw back, but a spokesman said it aimed to get back as much as it could.

The organisation is holding talks with administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers on this issue.

English Partnerships pumped millions of pounds to develop the land - which was in a state of disrepair - before the £11 million museum was opened in a blaze of glory in July 1995.

But, three years later, the park was in the hands of administrators, facing a crippling £1million debt and up for sale.

The majority of the land was sold to commercial developers Ogden Properties Ltd for just under a £1million in June. It has not revealed its plans for the site. Land at Heckmondwike and the Spen Valley Railway line are still up for sale.

An English Partnerships spokesman said: "I cannot give an exact figure, but we are looking to recoup some of the losses.

"We are currently evaluating part of the land to examine how much it is worth and we will base our assessment on that. But we will try to claw back as much cash as we possibly can."

The spokesman denied the grant had been a waste of cash and would have been better spent elsewhere.

"It is not a case of money down the drain. The land was in extremely bad condition and has now been treated and developed for future projects," he said.

In the past year Pricewater-houseCoopers has been selling off assets from the Transperience Leisure complex to balance the books.

Administrator Owen Claxton said up to 100 creditors were seeking cash.

He added that a £600,000 bank loan had now been paid off.

"All claims including English Partnerships will be looked into," he said.

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