COUNCILLORS have welcomed moves to breathe new life into plans to build rail stations at Haxby and Strensall.

Members attending a meeting of City of York Council's advisory panel, with executive member for transport Coun Tracey Simpson-Laing, acknowledged a government-backed letter allowing the authority to bid for cash for the long-delayed scheme.

The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) told the council it could bid to move forward its plans - to run services between York and Haxby and Strensall villages -- only weeks after deciding to shelve all new rail schemes.

The letter gave the authority hope that its station proposals, which were first discussed in 1995, could soon become a reality.

Advisory board member Coun John Boardman said he was pleased to see that the project had been given another chance.

"As a group, we all agree it is a good idea," he said. "I welcome the rethink. I just dread that in 12 months time they will tell us we can't have it anyway."

Coun Ann Reid, the Liberal Democrat's transport spokeswoman, said: "This latest U-turn is most welcome. It is a shame they (the SRA) didn't wait until they were sure which way they were going to go before they told us anyway."

Coun Simpson-Laing said: "This is a matter which should be kept under constant review. I hope we can get the stations where we want them."

Meanwhile, councillors approved an extra £100,000 to be taken from the contingency fund to plug a budget shortfall caused by winter gritting costs.

Officers had blamed a "severe winter" and extra gritting runs for the request, which was needed to balance the authority's highway maintenance budget.

Updated: 10:51 Tuesday, April 08, 2003