The UDP allocation of land for employment at Cullingworth was branded 'commercial suicide' at a public inquiry.

Objector Jonathon Isles told the replacement Bradford Unitary Development Plan inquiry at Victoria Hall, Saltaire, that to designate the land at Manywells Quarry and Manywells Brow for employment would not be viable.

Mr Isles said: "Even if there were call for more employment sites in Cullingworth, which I don't think there are, it would be nigh on commercial suicide."

Mr Isles spoke, with other objectors, on behalf of M&B Commercial Properties, who said that developing the site for employment was not feasible.

As part of their alternative suggestion to use the site for housing and education they consider that the site could be developed for residential use and that the remainder could be used for sixth form facilities to complement those on the Parkside School site.

But head of education at Bradford Council, Phil Green, opposed the suggestion that there would be enough demand to warrant additional school facilities and said a split school site would not be ideal.

And residents were also fighting to save a bequeathed playing field and "ancient walls" at the inquiry.

Pensioners Dorothy Davey and George Rhodes said land did not need to be pruned from Allerton Recreation Field to create an access road to proposed housing in Allerton, Bradford. The current proposal is for 447 houses to be built on land off Ivy Lane, a narrow farm track off Allerton Road.

But the objectors insist that the fields, known as Prune Park, should be protected.

Bradford Council planning officer Gerry McGuckin said: "If we take eight metres away, it is possible to realign the football pitch and not lose any of the playing field area. There will be a loss of some trees. We would seek through a compulsory purchase order to have the lost land replaced within a convenient distance."

Planning inspector John Gillis said: "I am concerned that I have no evidence that alternative access to this site has been investigated in any depth and that other options haven't been considered."