Motorists who regularly use the A650 will have gnashed their teeth many times over the delays and congestion on this vital artery in and out of central Bradford.

For some time now there has been wrangling between Bradford Council and the Highways Agency over who should actually accept responsibility for the road and manage any schemes to tackle the problems on it.

Now the Highways Agency has put an offer on the table of £800,000, a one-off payment to entice the Council into taking on the mantle of managing the road and being responsible for solving the congestion on it.

The Council has, quite rightly, decided to decline this offer.

The money on offer is simply not enough to implement the necessary projects to ensure the A650 is a road fit for the volume of traffic that uses it on a daily basis, and to pay for any future work that may need doing.

Were Council chiefs to accept such a low one-off payment they would no doubt find themselves having to spend many more times that amount in the future.

While road users will not be keen to see further delays, it is vital that this problem is sorted out properly rather than via a quick but inadequate fix of cash.

If the Highways Agency is serious about handing control of the A650 to Bradford Council, it must go back to the drawing board and come up with a much more realistic offer.