Safety fencing could start going up along Otley's riverside after Leeds Council decided to push ahead with part of the unpopular scheme.

The executive board has agreed to defer a decision about what should be done to improve safety at Wharfemeadows Park to allow public consultation.

But with a significant exception built in "that the chief recreation officer be requested to progress fencing proposals by the river in the vicinities of the weir and the children's play area".

Leeds Council says the legal advice it has received means it has to act quickly and press ahead with the least contentious part of its plan.

But it insists the question of what safety measures will be introduced in the rest of the park is still being considered.

Wharfemeadows Action Group member Tony Hartigan said: "We're very disappointed. We were told the scheme was going to be deferred."

Otley MP Greg Mulholland said: "It would be quite wrong for Leeds to go ahead with any safety work in Wharfemeadows Park.

"We are in the middle of a consultation process and nothing must happen until that process is complete and to everyone's satisfaction."