A seven-year campaign to reclaim a right of way across the River Wharfe hit a hurdle after the proposed bridge was declared too low.

The Environment Agency has stepped in with new guidelines in the wake of the floods of recent years.

And campaigners were told the level of the proposed bridge at Greenholme, Burley-in-Wharfedale, would now have to be raised by about a foot.

But the battle is back on track after new drawings were accepted by the Environment Agency and the local authorities.

The hiccup was revealed by retiring chairman John Sparshatt at the annual meeting of the Burley Bridge Association.

The meeting heard the stepping stones across the river had become almost impassable in recent years and that a footbridge was the only sensible solution.

Mr Sparshatt said the project was a complicated one and had been fraught with difficulty at every stage - but the campaign had achieved planning permission from the local authorities and the Environment Agency.

He added that the BBA was now putting pressure on the highway authorities to make footpath creation orders to link up the proposed bridge with the existing right of way at the stepping stones.

Meetings are now being arranged with North Yorkshire County Council and Bradford Metropolitan District Council in an attempt to push the project forward.

On Sunday, the association will hold its annual Bridge Awareness Walk when volunteers will attempt to cross the river using the stepping stones.

The walk will begin at 3pm but participants are invited to meet earlier at Grange Park where the Silsden Brass Band will play from 2pm. The gathering will be addressed by the former Bradford Lord Mayor Councillor David Harrison.