Fire brigade unions fear lives could be put at risk on 999 calls as a string of new traffic lights are opened on a busy commuter route in Bradford.

Manchester Road is to get 14 pedestrian crossings installed to help pedestrians access a new £12 million guided bus route that runs down the centre of the road.

But firefighters fear that the lights - 12 of which run between the fire station at Odsal and the city centre - could delay officers reacting to 999 call-outs.

There are further fears that major delays due to heavy commuter traffic will cause congestion, further hampering the emergency services

Steve Lofthouse, Bradford divisional secretary of the Fire Brigade Union, said fire crews working at Odsal station would have to negotiate the 12 sets of lights if called to cover for colleagues at the Nelson Street station.

"If you take the average wait for a red light to change to be 30 seconds, with 12 sets of traffic lights that's six minutes on to your response time," he said.

"Obviously not all of the lights will be at red but the worse case scenario is that fire crews couldn't make the attendance times that have been laid down by the Home Office.

"In a fire situation any bit of delay could be disastrous for the person who has called us."

Paul Daly, West Yorkshire Fire Brigade's senior operations officer, said the brigade had fully liaised with Bradford Council at the planning stage before building work began.

He said Odsal station already had 'wig wag' traffic lights outside the station which they control when called out on an emergency but added he would monitor the situation once the lights were operational.

There are also fears that commuters could face major delays once the lights are up and running.

Motorists using the road, which is regarded as one of the city's main arteries, have already endured long delays since work on the scheme began last November.

The three lane carriageways running on both sides of the road have been reduced to two lanes, and in some places even down to just one lane while the construction work is carried out.

The crossings are to start just after the junction with Netherlands Avenue and run all the way to the Senior Way/Croft Street junction just before Jacobs Well.

AA spokesman Denise Raven said if the guided bus system was a success hundreds of passengers would use the crossings to get to and from the bus stops every day.

She said: "It is inevitable that there is going to be some additional time added on to commuters' journeys.

"Potentially, if people are going to be using the crossings and the guided bus system takes off then there is going to be a knock-on effect on the traffic."

Jim Griffin, president of the Bradford Chamber of Trade, has been against the scheme since its inception.

He said the crossings were another "nail in the coffin" for businesses based along the route.

"Manchester Road is a main artery into the city centre and all the signs direct people along that route.

"These crossings are going to put motorists in a very bad frame of mind when they go to the city centre.

"My worry is that Manchester Road is going to become a dead route.

"I just hope these pedestrian crossings will have time delays built into them so the traffic is given some chance to flow."

A Bradford Council highways spokesman said: "We have tried to consider all road users when placing the additional pedestrian crossings which will assist people getting across the extremely busy road.

"We have worked closely with the fire service during the whole design of the Manchester Road guided busway."