Addingham's bid to create a skateboarding park has run into another major snag - with police branding its proposed location as 'unsafe'.

The scheme received its second body blow within two months when Problem Orientated Police officer PC Stuart Hudson announced his "real concerns" to Addingham Parish Council last week.

PC Hudson delivered his stark message just after Chairman Gordon Campbell had warned that it was "now or never" for the project.

Coun Campbell said: "We are rapidly approaching a time when we will need to make a decision as to whether we proceed at all.

"I want to move this one way or another. We're getting a lot of press, there's a lot of feeling in the village, and we really need to reach a conclusion on this.

"The cost is £3,900, plus VAT, without a 'road' in, just the basic park itself. The only things left to do is get planning permission and clear it with the insurers."

But then PC Hudson threw the future of the whole project into doubt by listing police objections to the plans to create the park on land below the football pitch, in the Memorial Park.

He said: "There was a lot of deliberation in Ilkley about where their skate park would be sited. I believe the current site in Addingham could be a honey pot for anti-social behaviour because it's not really overlooked and they could get up to all sorts there.

"There are also concerns about the risk of sex offenders, because it would be an ideal place for them to hang around."

The project hit major difficulties last month when councillors expressed dismay at the rising costs. Estimates showed that as well as the £3,900 needed for the park it would cost another £3,300 to create a surfaced path to it from the Memorial Hall.

PC Hudson's remarks met with some agreement in the council, but Coun Alan Jerome reminded everyone that the scheme still had to go forward.

He said: "At the last annual parish meeting we all agreed that the parish council would make our best efforts to provide a skateboarding park for the village as soon as possible.

"I don't think that position has changed although we have reservations about the funding and, given the points raised by the police, we must surely re-consider the location for it."

Coun Campbell concluded the debate by repeating the need for urgency. He said: "We keep bringing up individual things which knock the scheme back more. If the gut feeling is it's really not going to happen then we are wasting our time. I want to come to the council with a package deal saying 'this is where it will be, this is how much it will cost and the police will

sanction it'."

Speaking after the meeting he said: "I'm hoping that we'll be able to agree a price and a location by the next meeting."

The idea of Addingham having its own skate park was first floated during the initial skateboarding craze of the 1980s. The current project was started by young skateboarders, frustrated at the lack of local facilities, and their families around 18 months ago.

Addingham Skatepark Association, which has already raised thousands of pounds, hopes to equip the completed park with cutting edge stunt ramps and other equipment.