Councillors have hailed the Airedale Masterplan as the 'icing on the cake' but say urgent action is needed now to resolve congestion on the district's roads.

Shipley Area Planning Panel has called for a report on traffic using one of the key junctions in the town after claims that Fox's Corner - the junction of the A657 and the A6038 in Shipley - was experiencing 20 per cent more traffic than it was designed to handle.

Consultants Arup have recommended a Shipley Eastern bypass be built between Canal Road in Frizinghall and Otley Road in Baildon to alleviate traffic in Shipley centre.

It is one of five key projects which will act as a catalyst for other aspects of the Masterplan and is designed to address congestion problems in the town. But Councillor John Briggs (Liberal Democrat, Baildon) warned planners they needed to take action now to prevent the situation from getting worse.

He said the number of housing developments being approved in Baildon was making a 'significant' impact on junctions in Baildon and Shipley.

He said: "The junction of Otley Road and Baildon Road is one of the worst traffic congestion areas in the whole of Shipley. Every time you put more housing in you are going to increase the traffic congestion."

And Councillor Phil Thornton (Labour, Windhill & Wrose) claimed at the meeting that Fox's Corner was running at 20 per cent above capacity.

Previous studies have also shown there are 2,000 more cars using Saltaire Roundabout since the opening of the Bingley Relief Road.

But a Bradford Council spokesman said traffic counts showed only a two per cent increase in the amount of traffic using Fox's Corner since the opening of the relief road.

The council's Aire Valley Transport Improvement Project, designed to tackle congestion around Saltaire and the A650, was put on hold until after the Airedale Masterplan was announced.

Shipley MP Chris Leslie said: "A lot of people are very worried about the access and exit to and from Baildon through Fox's Corner and towards Canal Road. I still think there are possible solutions for rationalising the number of junctions and reducing the traffic flow.