Parish councillors in Steeton have produced a blueprint for the future of the district's footpaths and bridleways.

The move comes after Bradford Council officers wrote to individuals and organisations asking for their opinions.

The Council was recently found guilty on two counts of bungling its responsibilities over the 550 miles of rights of way on the district's land.

It was ordered to pay £500 each to two groups - one in Silsden - which suffered injustice through a delay in dealing with their concerns.

Following discussions, Steeton parish councillors has come up with a list of priorities. They want to:

Ensure all paths are signposted.

Improve paths to enable people to walk and cycle to work and school.

Make sure all existing paths are open and useable.

Provide more information about those that are open.

Increase the number of leaflets and guidebooks produced by the Council.

Provide more guided walks.

Provide more information about where people can go and what they can do.

Increase access opportunities for people with disabilities.

Parish council chairman and newly-elected Craven ward councillor David Emmott said he was pleased that the Council was doing something about the footpath situation. "It is not before time," he added.

A Bradford Council spokesman said: "Our recent survey of the district's rights of ways revealed there was a wide range of improvements which could be made.

"As a result we have sent out questionnaires to a range of local and national individuals and organisations asking for their opinions on which access issues they would like the authority to tackle first. They include the Ramblers Association, British Horse Society, councillors, parish councils, civic societies and footpaths and bridleway groups.

"Their comments will help us to get a better feel of what priorities the different users have and establish if there is a general consensus about the work which needs to be done.

"Once we have collated the various responses we will be drawing up a statement of how the Council intends to manage the district's rights of ways over the next ten years. It is hoped that a draft plan will be available in the autumn."

A report by Local Government Ombudsmen Patricia Thomas revealed that rights of way staff spent too much time carrying out a major survey of footpaths and bridleways, rather than their legal obligations. These included: protecting the public's right to use rights of way and keeping and updating a definitive map of rights of way.

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