Tough new controls could be imposed on bus operators in Bradford if existing arrangements cannot be made to work, transport bosses have warned.

Metro, the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Authority (PTE), works in partnership with bus companies across the city to bring about improvements to vehicles, timetables and road infrastructure.

But the PTE says the threat of Quality Contracts' - a system whereby bus companies operate under a licensed scheme - looms large should the partnership system fail to deliver improvements.

The warning comes after a report from a group of MPs said the deregulation of English bus services, introduced 20 years ago, had failed.

Bus passenger numbers continue to fall and the current arrangements "cannot be made to work", the report from the House of Commons Transport Committee says.

The biggest bus operator in Bradford, First, has refuted the findings, saying partnerships between bus companies and local authorities are "the way forward."

But Metro has given its support to the committee's recommendations, which include the extension of mandatory concessionary fares to the under-16s and others in full-time education. There should also be a thorough review of how the Competition Act applied to bus services, said the committee, which added that it was "ridiculous" that bus operators were forbidden from providing through-ticketing and co-ordinating scheduled services.

The report also said trials could take place to see how the system operated in London, where passenger numbers are on the rise and where services are privatised but still regulated, would work outside the capital.

Councillor Chris Greaves, Metro's spokesman for Bradford, said: "The Quality Contract is there as a threat while we try to make the Quality Partnership work.

"Quality Contracts should be kept as a last resort because if we introduce them now we would have nowhere else to go if it failed."

A spokesman for the First bus company said: "We prefer to work in partnership with Metro and Bradford Council and we think the current system works extremely well. The report is slightly biased and politically-led."

First said it would fight to keep its commercial freedom and flexibility, and not to be restrained in the ways it operates.

A Metro spokesman said: "We are not seeking to take control of buses but simply the ability to specify reliable, punctual, integrated and affordable services and networks.

"We see this report on the bus industry by the Transport Select Committee as an opportunity to take the industry forward and grow bus use by developing services which meet passengers' needs. We hope the report will be accepted by the Government."

e-mail: will.kilner@bradford.newsquest.co.uk