Leaders of Wakefield Council have said they cannot support the government's plans to bring super-fast rail services to the UK, as the money required to build such a network could be better spent elsewhere.

The Department for Transport recently unveiled plans for the ambitious High Speed 2 (HS2) project, which will drastically reduce the journey times between London and other major cities, including Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds.

However, council leader Peter Box suggested the government has not made a solid economic case for such an extravagant and costly train line.

"There is no evidence that this project will improve existing train provision and at this time we have to ask the question - does this investment give residents the best deal?" he remarked.

Mr Box added that the cost of HS2 amounts to a staggering figure between £130 million and £160 million per mile. 

The councillor said 11.4 miles of the track will pass through the Wakefield area and this huge sum of money could make a huge difference to the Yorkshire city if it was spent on upgrading the road network and infrastructure improvements instead.