DEVELOPMENT PLAN TO BE PUT ON HOLD?

It comes after Social Development Minister, Alex Attwood - who only launched the plan at the start of the month - stated that there is very little money left in the budget for urban regeneration.

He claimed that he had bid for 35 million from the Department for Finance and Personnel (DFP) and was only allocated 10 million for urban regeneration.

Mr Attwood said: "I feel let down but the people who are really let down are the traders and community leaders in those 20 areas who have produced regeneration plans and who now see the Executive not giving it the priority and protection it deserves."

He added that modernising towns means attracting fresh investment and jobs and pointed to the facelift Belfast has received as an example.

He said the budget for regeneration had been cut to 5 million. For the past two years it has been 60m.

Saying it would contribute to decline in town centres and the loss of jobs, he added, "The local town centre traders who put every effort into building their plans have been looking to government saying we have done our bit, you are not doing yours."

Banbridge councillor, Junior McCrum, said that if the work did not go ahead it would be a blow for the town but accepted that money from the Assembly was becoming harder to obtain.

"It would be disappointing but the Assembly is working under extreme financial constraints and I know Sammy Wilson is working hard to try and allocate as much money for funding as he can," Councillor McCrum said.

"Rathfriland Street, for example, is in bad need of having work done - the kerbs there are lowered and lorries and cars are having to go up the kerb sometimes to get down the street.

"Hopefully part of the project at least would be able to go ahead," he added.