A councillor has called for charges to be removed from an Ilkley car park because no-one is using it.

Councillor Anne Hawkesworth (Con) said that Bradford Council's decision to introduce a 'pay and display' system in November at its car park in Railway Road had added to Ilkley's traffic problems.

Parking costs 30p for one hour, 50p for two, or £1.50 for the day.

And Coun Hawkesworth says rather than pay up, train commuters to Leeds and Bradford were now parking on the streets and adding to congestion around the town centre.

But a spokesman for Bradford Council's car parks section said: "We have not yet received any requests from Coun Hawkesworth to change the pay and display operation at Railway Road but we are monitoring the car park and would obviously look at any concerns raised with us."

Coun Hawkesworth said the parking and congestion problems in the town needed solving and she suggested that a parking disc system could be tried.

"The disc system is used extensively in such towns as Harrogate and perhaps it could produce some answers in Ilkley," she added.

She fears the long-term future for Ilkley's traffic problems looks bleak because of the relaxation of parking conditions in planning regulations. She believes the move will mean more buildings being constructed without adequate parking spaces.

Some of the objectors to plans by Crest Homes to turn the Ilkley College building at Hillside into flats were concerned that not enough car parking spaces were being provided to cope with the number of cars residents would own.

"Personal transport is something people will fight tooth and nail to retain and life in rural areas would be impossible without it," said Coun Hawkesworth.

She said that car parking on roads by rail passengers also affected routes near the station in Ben Rhydding.

And she said she had also received complaints about rat-running drivers using King's Road to avoid the busy Skipton Road, especially when there road works are being carried out.

Similar complaints about rat-running and car parking charges have also been made to Ilkley and District Road Safety Committee and Ilkley Tourist Management Committee.

"As a town we are experiencing increased problems due to cars and their impact.

"The increased use of the railway system is perhaps improving the logjam on main roads to Bradford and Leeds but train commuters need to park their cars all day," said Coun Hawkesworth.

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