A £1 million vision for Bingley town centre will be a major boost for business and tourism, traders said today.

The scheme, which will tie in with the opening of the £47.9 million relief road, includes proposals to pedestrianise Main Street from Park Road to Chapel Lane with traffic diverted round the back of the town along Wellington Street.

The overall aim is to create a "green heart" in the town by developing Jubilee Gardens, which will link with Myrtle Park and Riverside Walk, and provide more seating, a glass-fronted cafe and public toilets outside the Arts Centre.

Brian Loughrey, of Simply Scrumptious cafe and sandwich shop in Main Street, said a transformed town centre would attract more shoppers and tourists. "The noise of the constant traffic along Main Street puts people off doing their shopping along here and an open centre to walk around freely would be an excellent way to bring people to this end of town," he said.

Jan Cartwright, who has run Main Street's Opulence gift shop for five years and is due to retire in six weeks, said the shop's new owner would benefit.

"It's what the town needs and it will make it a pleasant place to shop, visit and work," she said.

Council planner Nick Riding revealed the draft plan to residents at the neighbourhood forum.

"It was difficult trying to marry everyone's views from the questionnaires and the workshops but we've delivered a balanced plan which we hope most people in the community will support," he said.

"We are trying to remove all traffic from Main Street and divert it along Wellington Street."

He said the pedestrianised section would have access for emergency services, wide loads and possibly half of the bus routes.

Loading would be permitted between 4pm and 10am.

The success of these proposals will be reviewed after the multi-million redevelopment of Myrtle Walk shopping centre.

Other aims are to improve access for disabled people, provide cycle track and cycle stands and create a bus interchange by the railway station.

The design will be on display for public consultation this spring and a definite plan will be drawn up by September to seek committee approval in the autumn.

Mr Riding will be contacting other bodies involved, such as the bus companies.