PIONEERING plans to arm Ilkley people with laser speed guns in the battle against dangerous driving have been rejected by town leaders.

Ilkley parish councillors this week told police it was 'not interested' in the ambitious Community Speedwatch scheme which would allow civilians to use the hand-held laser devices currently used by police to help incriminate speeding motorists.

Councillors told Ilkley Police Sergeant Esther Hobbs the devices could be used impartially by civilian volunteers, could be dangerous, or could trigger road rage incidents in the town.

Police had hoped to work with Ilkley Parish Council to gain funding for a speed gun.

And a scheme to install traffic calming 'speed tables' on Bolling Road to keep speeds down was this week criticised by a parish councillor, following concern from some residents.

At the parish council meeting, Councillor Mike Lynes said: "A number of people complained about the risk to public safety of people showing a 30 miles per hour sign in a peaceful way on the pavement. It gives you some idea of the risks involved for the members of the public standing on the edge of the pavement and waving these machines at people."

"It has no legal benefit, it's simply a thing to wave at people. Rumble strips, sleeping policemen and flashing signs have the same benefits."

He proposed that the council tell police it was happy to work on speed reduction initiatives, but that was not interested in the Speedwatch idea. The other councillors agreed.

Councillor Anne Hawkesworth said she would have similar concerns.

She said: "When you're setting the public up in judgment on the rest of the public we could have problems."

Keighley Police Chief Supt Graham Sunderland last year gave his backing to try out the first such scheme within his divisional area. A number of Speedwatch schemes exist elsewhere in the country

Inspector Tony Walker had earlier presented proposals to Ilkley Parish Council for such a scheme in Ilkley, and had hoped to work with the parish council, and the Keighley and Shipley Crime Partnership, to gain the almost £3,000 of funding needed for a new speed gun. He has also discussed the scheme with organisations such as Ilkley Community Against Speeding.

Sgt Hobbs said she would pass the parish council's views on to Insp Walker.

He proposed training six special constables to use the guns, and later training a number of civilian volunteers to back up the police's work. Their role would be to observe and record speeders rather than enforce the law.

Councillor Lexa Robinson said: "I can't imagine mothers with children standing on a pavement with these guns. It could cause more bother than it's worth. It could even be dangerous."

She also told the parish council she had concerns about proposals to install speed tables - gentler versions of the traditional speed hump - on Bolling Road, as part of the town's multi-million pound traffic management scheme.

"There's definitely certain people who want them on Bolling Road, but there's grave concern from what we call the 'silent people'. They're coming up to me in the supermarket and saying we didn't know about the petition, nobody has spoken to us about putting any kind of bumps in the road at all," said Coun Robinson.

She fears the speed tables could lead to more traffic noise, could be painful for motorists who have arthritis and back problems, and may cause problems for patients trying to reach the Springs Medical Centre and parents taking their children to school.

She said: "The fact of the matter is Bolling Road belongs to Ilkley people, it's not a private road for Bolling Road residents."

Bradford Council is also looking closely at objections to the scheme from Ilkley residents, since it put up its formal notice about the planned work.

Ilkley Community Against Speeding, which has been backing the Bolling Road scheme, and has been in discussions about the speed guns, said it could not comment on the parish councillors' views until members had discussed the matter.