Residents and traders are to be consulted about a scheme to give Cleckheaton town centre a facelift costing more than £1 million.

The bulk of the Kirklees Council funding - £910,000 - will be spent on resurfacing a mile of Bradford Road between the Chain Bar roundabout and Rawfolds Way. It will also help provide better street lights and drains.

And £110,000 will be ploughed into improvements along Bradford Road between Horncastle Street and the town's bus station.

The project includes new block paving on footpaths, upgraded street lights similar to those in Mirfield town centre and dropped crossings, which have kerbs lowered to make it easier for disabled and elderly people to use them.

The area in front of St John's car park will be landscaped and the existing stone walled planter will be replaced with decorative fencing.

New paving will also be placed outside the town hall and Foxy's nightclub. Other plans include new litter bins and better road signs.

The Council also looked into widening the footpath outside the premises of Age Concern North Kirklees but scrapped the idea because the road also narrows at that point.

And a plan to put a bus lay-by and widen the pavement in front of the former Savoy Cinema site has been dropped after the Council refused planning permission last month for the proposed shopping development there.

Roger Holmes, the Council's principal planning officer, also revealed funding was being sought from the culture and leisure services budget for floodlights on the town hall.

He told a meeting of the Spen Valley Working Party at Cleckheaton Town Hall that work on the scheme was scheduled to start in July and be completed next March.

Mr Holmes said: "The work will be carried out in phases to minimise disruption to businesses and people who use the area.

"There will also be a public exhibition on the scheme next month in the Town Hall, held over two to three days. The date has not yet been decided.''

He said it would include drawings, illustrations of the type of street lights to be used, samples of the paving and photographs of other parts of Kirklees where similar schemes have been carried out.

Councillor Kath Pinnock (Lib Dem, Cleckheaton) asked for proper consultation with traders along the whole route affected to minimise disruption to the businesses.

And Keith Joplin, president of Spenborough Chamber of Trade and Commerce, suggested Mr Holmes attend one of the chamber's monthly meetings to discuss the scheme and help allay members' fears by emphasising the benefits to them once it is completed.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.