A Freedom of Information request has revealed how huge sums have been paid out by the Department for Transport (DfT) and its seven agencies to consultants between 2004 and 2007.

The most expensive fees have been racked up by firms providing help with complex IT projects, financial advice, management consultancy or project management.

Other organisations have also been paid for services including psychiatry, workplace mediation and internal corporate investigations.

The spending comes amid growing despair over the state of transport in the Leeds area and the disparity in road and rail funding in Yorkshire in comparison to the rest of the country.

In 2006/07, spending represented £104 per person whereas in London the figure was £399.

While the government is bankrolling London's £16bn Crossrail system it pulled the plug on the Leeds Supertram.

The figures released by the DfT on consultant spending show how £10.4m was paid to IT consultants Atos Origin IT Services in 2004/05 and then another £9.8m the following year to help establish the Transport Direct journey planner service.

A total of £11.8m was paid in 2006/07 to IBM for acting as the "strategic IT Partner" for the DVLA.

Meanwhile, £2.7m was paid to Deloitte in 2005/06 for financial consultancy and work in relation to road-pricing.

On a smaller scale, £90,272 was paid out to the Institute of Psychiatry for "general consultancy" and £3,012 to Conflict Management Plus, a consultancy which "provides workplace mediation and dispute resolution".

A DfT spokeswoman said it used consultants when specialist skills, knowledge or services were required.

She added that the DfT carefully followed Government rules on awarding contracts to consultants.