A bid to revive an old railway line through the heart of the Yorkshire Dales has won tentative backing at a meeting.

The authority which runs the national park has been one of the organisations which has, in the past, resisted the restoration of a link between Garsdale and Northallerton.

However, now it has voted to at least support the principle of restoring the line, championed by the Wensleydale Railway Company.

There were a list of provisos - including a get-out clause, indicating that the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority's vote did not preclude a need for further research, or that any project that was submitted in future would automatically win its blessing.

Nancy Stedman led members calling for caution, suggesting that the authority should not commit itself one way or the other, until it had all the facts.

"We don't know what impact a railway would have on natural habitats along the route, or on traffic and business. There are so many unknowns, and I am anxious that we do not imply support when there are so many difficult issues to work through," she said.

Fellow authority member Deborah Millward insisted that people with homes along the line also deserved a say.

However, Hawes businessman and Richmondshire District Council leader, John Blackie, said he was taken aback by those who were calling for time-consuming research.

He warned that the region could miss the boat when it came to grants from Europe, leaving the Dales' economy at risk of further decline.

"Someone with, say, a bad heart could be in hospital in Leeds within minutes, rather than trundling all the way to Northallerton by car, wondering if you were ever going to make it in time.

"It cannot be denied that, in this area, we are deprived by distance, and it is time we took that into account," he said.

Wensleydale Railway Company spokesman Scott Handley later welcomed the authority's position.

He said: "We are encouraged that they have been prepared to look at the project again, with a view to an appropriate outcome.

"It was particularly important to us that the authority accepted the principle of a phased reinstatement, as the costs of a single project would be prohibitive."