There are fears that millions of pounds of money set aside to regenerate an Isle of Wight town will never see the light of day.

As revealed last year, Ryde was identified as one of 55 places across the country earmarked for endowment-style funds.

Then Prime Minister Rishi Sunak promised to allocate £20 million to the town, over a ten year period.

It formed part of a government initiative to help regenerate high streets and tackle anti-social behaviour.

Read more: Isle of Wight Ryde town to receive £20m as part of Rishi Sunak plan

In the months that followed, Ryde Town Board was formed to draw up investment plans and a consultation was also launched, allowing residents to have their say on how the money should be spent.

It was anticipated plans would be submitted to government by Thursday, August 1.

However, members say the board has now been told it does not have to put forward proposals this month.

Isle of Wight Council leader, Cllr Phil Jordan, who sits on the board and is also a councillor for Ryde, said it is "unusual" for grant funding to be indefinitely postponed, without some clear idea of dates and timeframes.

He said he has "serious concerns" the money will not be "forthcoming".

"My own consideration is it would be simple for the new government to clearly state the funding is guaranteed and ‘honoured’ by them but they have not done so", he said.

"I would not be surprised now if the autumn budget statement confirms the funding is either withdrawn or, less contentiously, reduced considerably.

"I know many of my town board colleagues have similar concerns."

MP for Isle of Wight East, Conservative Joe Robertson, said he feared this is the "first step" to the new Labour government cancelling the funding.

"I have written to the Secretary of State to seek a cast iron guarantee that the £20 million already allocated will be coming to Ryde as planned", he said.

To date, just £250,000 has been released to Ryde Town Board for community engagement work.

When asked, the Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government declined to comment.

It is understood further detail on levelling up funding will be provided in due course.