An invited audience of 187 delegates filled the Saxon Suite at the leisure centre last Wednesday for the Daventry Transport Conference 2007 to discuss the possibility of introducing a state-of-the-art public transport system to the town.

Cllr Chris Millar, leader of Daventry District Council, said: "The conference was a resounding success.

"We think those that attended were very impressed with the variety and content.

"The profile of Daventry has been raised in the public eye now in respect of the advanced transport systems for the future."

The conference was part of a two-week national showcase held in the town, due to end tomorrow (Friday), demonstrating a number of driverless Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) vehicles along Eastern Way.

If plans are given the go-ahead, an £80 million project could be launched to install a PRT system across Daventry to replace the existing bus network.

With a planned population of 40,000 by 2021, the district council is keen to find a way to get people out of their cars and onto an eco-friendly public transport system, which would help ease congestion and save parking spaces.

Cllr Millar said: "There will be a PRT system running at Heathrow Airport next year but Daventry is the only place in the world where we are looking at putting a network across the town."

The showcase has attracted a great deal of media interest with extensive coverage on the BBC, ITV, BBC Radio Two, Four and Five, as well as featuring on radio stations across America and Canada, countless internet sites and a magazine distributed in Italy and Japan.

Cllr Millar said: "Daventry is a small market town in the middle of England and it's fascinating the amount of positive media interest this has shown.

"Whatever happens, Daventry is now firmly on the map."

The district council is now looking at the possibility of setting up a test track by 2009, which would run from the town centre, across the Eastern Way roundabout, down the old railway line and up to Middlemore.

Ian Vincent, head of paid service at the council, said: "We need to make sure the technology works so we would test the PRT system for at least 12 months."