Police have warned they will get tough on people who park illegally and block access to a resource and community centre used by disabled people.

Keighley police have already issued fixed-penalty tickets to drivers who have parked illegally on yellow lines alongside the Keighley Disabled People's Centre in Temple Row.

Officials at the centre say they have had to call in police as a last resort after appeals to drivers not to flout the law have fallen on deaf ears.

Sue Dewdney, the centre's rural outreach worker, said: "They park on both sides of the narrow street blocking the entrance to our car park at the back. It has been going on for months.

"It is very worrying for some of our members who need transport and fear being blocked in.

"We have spoken to drivers, pleading with them not to park, but often you just get abuse."

The situation was also causing a health hazard because the double parking was hindering access by refuse collectors.

There are piles of black rubbish bins at the back of one of the buildings opposite and a skip which hasn't been emptied, Sue added.

KDPC chairman Audrey Page said: "The drivers have no excuse. The single yellow line has rubbed away in places but the no parking signs are still very visible."

Bradford councillor Irene Ellison-Wood said cars were parked on both sides of the road when she visited the centre, making it impossible to reach the car park at the back.

"Common sense - never mind good manners - tells you not to park near a disabled people's centre where they have to get in and out," she said.

"I'm delighted that police are taking action and I have also informed environmental health in Bradford that if necessary they will need a police escort to reach the rubbish if the cars persist in parking there."

Acting Superintendent Roger Gasson, of Keighley police, said: "People who park illegally in Temple Row and obstruct access to the disabled people's centre will be prosecuted.

"We have already taken some action and cars have been given fixed-penalty tickets. We will continue until the illegal parking stops."

He said he plansto contact Bradford Council's highways division to ask for the yellow lines to be repainted.