A BAND of protesters will take to the streets of Ilkley tomorrow morning in a bid to slow down speeding motorists.

Members of Ilkley Community Against Speeding (ICAS) will line the pavements of Bolling Road between 7.30am and 9.30am, armed with placards.

Their 'silent' protest is aimed at rush-hour commuters and parents on the school run, all of whom, they claim, regularly break the 30mph speed limit on Bolling Road.

"We will probably be stationary," said ICAS chairman Peter Callender. "And we will be silent. What we are trying to do is raise an awareness really, that driving at more than 30 (mph) is kind of dangerous. I think we will get a mixed reaction from drivers.

"They can't get angry because we are silent and we are not doing anything illegal. I expect some people will be annoyed, but I hope it will make some people think."

Mr Callender, of Westwood Rise, said the protest would be the first in a series of action days on Ilkley's streets. "We are also looking at staging them on Leeds Road, Wells Road and Skipton Road," he said.

The group also wants to see a 20mph speed limit imposed in some areas, the introduction of speed-calming measures throughout the town centre and a police crackdown on persistent speeders.

Group member Barbara Davy, of Parklands, declared tomorrow's protest an 'awareness-raising' exercise. "We want to increase public awareness of the speed limit in residential areas," she said. "It's a community and there should be consideration for others. This applies to the whole of Ilkley.

"Our aim is to make speeding socially as unacceptable as drink driving and to create a traffic system that reduces the likelihood of speeding, i.e. by better management, engineering and, where necessary, better enforcement of the law."

But not everyone will be backing the group's actions tomorrow.

Motorist Ron Addison, 57, who regularly drives down Bolling Road on a morning, says the protesters are living in a 'fantasy world'.

"I don't think people speed down Bolling Road. I have never seen a speed problem on Bolling Road. There's too many parked cars. I don't think speeding is the real issue at all," he said.

Mr Addison, of Tanfield Drive, Burley-in-Wharfedale, claims that the 30mph speed limit on Leeds Road forces drivers to use Bolling Road.

And he said tomorrow's protest would highlight the wrong issue.

"If you are reasonable to motorists they will behave reasonably back," he said.

"The problem is that they have introduced a very stupid speed limit into Ilkley because of political correctness. It's absolutely abominable that they reduced the speed limit on Leeds Road from 40mph to 30mph.

"I always used to use the main road into Ilkley. But now I might as well go along Bolling Road - it's clear and there's fewer traffic lights. There's probably a lot of more traffic going down Bolling Road but, in saying that, I have never found it congested with traffic at all."