Today Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin refused to grant the order authorising construction and operation of trolleybuses in the city.

The decision is another big blow for Leeds after the proposed Leeds Supertram system was scrapped in 2005 by the then Labour government after more than £40m had been spent on the project.

The New Generation Transport scheme was inspired by the first UK trolley bus scheme opened 105 years ago in Leeds and Bradford.

Trolleybuses were put forward as an alternative because they need overhead power cables rather than rails making the scheme cheaper and faster to construct.

But the transport secretary today said concerns about the financial viability of the scheme and its impact on the City’s building and streetscape outweighed the benefits.

He also suggested that First West Yorkshire’s alternative plan to introduce modern hybrid buses on segregated bus lanes could improve transport in the city at lower cost and less environmental harm.

The Government had already agreed to £173m worth of government funding for the scheme. Work was due to start in 2016, subject to Government final approval, with the trolleybus fully operational in 2018.