THE British government has denied reports that it plans to privatise the bus and railway companies in the North in the near future.

The Department of the Environment in the North has said there is "no truth" in reports that the government was engaged in secret negotiations with the British bus company Stagecoach over the sale of Northern Ireland Railways (NIR), Ulsterbus and its Belfast subsidiary, Citybus.

A report in yesterday's Irish News claimed that Stagecoach had been involved in secret privatisation talks with the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company (NITHC) which runs the network. Discussions were halted recently pending a decision on whether or not to privatise, according to the report. An announcement regarding the sale could be made "in a matter of weeks".

A spokesman for the NITHC said that neither the holding company nor any of its subsidiaries had been involved in negotiations with any third party. The Department of the Environment said that, while privatisation remained a core of government policy, "there is no current timetable for privatisation of public transport service provision in Northern Ireland".

Stagecoach described reports that it was interested in buying the NITHC as "complete hot air".

Despite the government's denial of any sell off plans, the British Labour party said Stagecoach was involved in informal discussions with the Northern Ireland Office in relation, to the privatisation.

Labour's transport campaign coordinator, Ms Glenda Jackson, said the government had taken "the first step" towards privatising the rail service. "Not only is Stagecoach attempting to foist rail privatisation on the commuters of Northern Ireland, but they are doing so on the basis of a consultant's report that remains cloaked in secrecy," Ms Jackson added.