Bingley's relief road is already paving the way for a boom in trade and attracting new businesses, according to the town's chamber of commerce.

The £47.9 million route opened for traffic last week and within hours congestion in the town centre was beginning to ease.

Today Bingley Chamber of Commerce president Pauline Wood said prospective businesses had been looking at vacant sites, as well as others moving in ahead of the new road to ensure they reaped its benefits.

She said: "The future looks good for Bingley and at last it has become a pleasant place in which to shop and work.

"We need to entice people to shop here. Shoppers can come into the town without having to sit in a queue of HGVs."

Lloyd Dobrodunow opened Rogue Fringe, a new men's hairdressing salon in Market Place, next to the Suburban Style Bar, a couple of weeks ago and said he moved to Bingley because he wanted to be part of an "up-and-coming town centre".

He said: "The new A650 is a godsend. It has already helped to attract people to shop here and customers have been saying how much easier it is to drive into Bingley.

"I'm from Baildon and I'm aware of the congestion there used to be in Bingley.

"I wanted to set up a business here as I believe the road will do the town's trade a massive favour."

The aim of the three-mile route, which stretches from Crossflatts roundabout to the new roundabout at the Ramada Jarvis Bankfield Hotel at Cottingley, is to remove 60 per cent of traffic from the town centre.

Lesley Conway, who runs The Really Good Food shop in Queens Court,

said: "Already we can cross the road

safely which is fantastic and we're all looking forward to a prosperous new year."