ROMANTIC couples have lost their excuse for a cuddle - thanks to the Disability Discrimination Act.

For decades, walkers have paused for a kiss and a cuddle at the kissing gate at Bridge End, Otley.

But now, the gate at the entrance to a public footpath has gone - because the city council feared it was restricting pram and pushchair users as well as wheelchair users.

Leeds City Council says it has a duty to people with pushchairs and wheelchairs to make the path obstacle free, but traditionalists say it is political correctness gone mad.

Marie Consoli, who lives opposite the path, said: "A lot of people will be upset, it is amazing how many people who went through regularly and always stopped for a kiss. I know one couple in their 80s who always kissed and a lot of younger couples too."

Mrs Consoli believes the gate was removed because a recently installed fence across the former auction mart means there is no alternative access.

"I can understand it was a hassle to get a pram through and those twin buggies are a colossal size, but I spent years in a wheelchair and I always managed. I've been told it was one of the last kissing gates in Otley and I just think it's a shame."

Diane and David Biggin, of Wrenbeck Drive, have been walking the path and going through the gate for more than 30 years.

Mrs Biggin said: "I think it is a valid reason, but I do think it is a shame. At one time people with buggies used to be able to get through another way, but that has been fenced off.

"We'd always kiss on our way through. We're walkers and it's a Yorkshire tradition amongst walkers to always kiss at kissing gates."

Terry and Louise Ford, members of Otley Little Theatre, are upset that the town is losing its traditional feel.

"There are other means of access to the path. We waited for a long time to come to Otley and now it's quite upsetting to find that the town is modernising and changing.

"The path has been guarded by a kissing gate for a number of years and as far as I know this has just gone ahead without any consultation."

There is just a gap in the wall where the gate was - but the council says it will install a more suitable barrier.

A spokesman for Leeds City Council's Learning and Leisure Department said: "The kissing gate was causing restriction to pram and pushchair users as well as to wheelchair users who have a right of access along this public right of way. This meant that the path did not meet the criteria for the Disability Discrimination Act and the gate had to be replaced with a more suitable barrier to ensure that the public right of way remains open and available for the public to use.

"It is a duty for Leeds City Council to ensure that all public rights of way remain free from obstruction and wherever possible make reasonable adjustments to path structures in order to make the path accessible to people who have mobility problems."