Driver Carole Frear suffered a bad back, whiplash injuries and thousands of pounds damage to her car after tangling with a controversial cattle grid.

The new-style cattle grid installed last year at the top of Baildon village is a hazard in wet weather, claim some road users.

And Bradford Council is now investigating to see if the grid was to blame in Mrs Frear's accident - she is pictured by the grid.

Last August four Harley Davidson riders came off their bikes after trying to cross the grid in the rain, and Mrs Frear's red Mazda MX5 car skidded and spun round in similar conditions on Friday. Her family are lodging a complaint with the Council which installed the grid last year.

The authority was trying to respond to numerous complaints from villagers about escaped sheep which found it easy to skip over the old grid and forage in people's gardens.

Today Mrs Frear's daughter Leanne said: "When it happened my mother was really shocked. A gentleman who lives near the cattle grid came over and told her that it happened all the time.

"Police came out and they don't normally write an accident report when only one car is involved but in this case they decided to, because the cattle grid was involved. Their words were 'It isn't her fault'. They told us they would write to the Council about it."

Geoff Tothill, head of major works at Bradford Council, said: "Since the Harley Davidson incident last August, we have not recorded any complaints about this cattle grid from motorists.

"We have recently installed new 'village gateway' signs on the north side of the grid to urge motorists to proceed with caution when crossing it."

Sergeant Roger Birkett, of West Yorkshire Police's traffic department, said: "This is the first time I have heard any controversy about that cattle grid. Most things are safe if you are driving at an appropriate speed. With metal surfaces, you will lose traction if it is wet."