Plans for Keighley's new bus station have been attacked for overlooking the needs of disabled bus users.

Disabled rights campaigners have hit out at the first stages of the development, which will mean radical changes to the flow of traffic though Keighley town centre.

Brian Hudson is chairman of Community Transport, which runs the dial-a-ride service. That currently stops near the Bradford and Bingley Building Society office in Bow Street, and he says disabled people will be unable to be dropped off anywhere near the Airedale Centre.

Mr Hudson has been told by Keighley planners that disabled people can be dropped off at the side of Town Hall Square or outside Shopmobility. He says that, in using either option, wheelchair users will have to cross a road and still have a distance of around 200 yards to get to the terminus.

He says: "The planners are not looking at the more disadvantaged members of our society.

"If the terminus and the waiting room are over at the Airedale Centre side, surely it's reasonable to be dropped off at that side. But they have made no provision for that.

"I think the bus company has catered for everyone else by giving them a lovely, shiny new bus station, but how do they expect disabled people to get there?"

David Samuels, of the Keighley Disabled People's Centre, describes the plans as "an accident waiting to happen."

He says: "You will have to cross a major road to get in or from the bus station, which, if you are pushing a wheelchair in the driving rain, you do not need."

The plans are to be discussed at a special meeting of the Keighley Area Panel on Monday, which will be followed by a three-week period of public consultation during which time objections can be raised.

Mr Samuels, whose son is wheelchair-bound, says: "Why do they have to wait for objections to come in? Why can't they consult in the first place and get it right first time?"

Senior Bradford council engineer Phil Sawley says orange badge holders can park temporarily in new loading bays, but adds that the issue of having to cross the road to get to the terminus is a valid concern. He says: "It's a valid point that has been raised. I'm not too sure how this issue has been written into the traffic orders or if it has been overlooked." He adds that every effort is made to ensure large developments such as the bus station are suitable to all users.

A spokesman for Keighley's Town Centre Management says: "We are working with a group called Bradford Access Action, which is carrying out an access audit of Keighley, and its first job is to look at the plans for the bus station. It has picked up a few things that have been passed on to Metro."

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