A housing company has challenged Bradford Council over its decision to block new homes along the former railway line in Cullingworth.

Skipton Properties saw its application for three houses at Lees Moor Meadows refused in August, and has just lodged an appeal.

The council had said the houses would intrude into the countryside and harm the future expansion of the Great Northern Railway Cycle Trail – the re-use of the former railway line as a cycle path.

But the company says the houses would not extend into the countryside, merely “round off” the village, and argued that the Council has been inconsistent with what it allows along the railway line, which has other developments along its stretch.

A planning inspector will now decide whether to overturn the council’s decision.