A leading transport official has conceded that Yorkshire's rail services are in need of improvement.

The government has launched a consultation on the future of services in the region and will shortly begin the competition for private companies to run the Transpennine and Northern Rail franchises - which cover most of Yorkshire - from 2016, the Yorkshire Post reports.

According to the government, "trade offs" may be necessary on some services and critics have compared its handling of the issue with the large amounts of investment devoted to transport in the south-east.

Peter Wilkinson, rail franchising director at the Department for Transport (DfT) said: "I don't believe [rail services in the north] are fit for purpose given the amount of growth we have now seen in rail usage in the north over the last 20 years," he said.

He added that people in central London should not be designing services for the north of England, calling for more devolved decision-making.