A councillor fears changes brought about by Bradford Council's schools review could cause traffic chaos in Ilkley.

As part of the review, the present All Saints First School in Leeds Road will be replaced by a new primary school to mark the switch to a two-tier system.

Councillor Martin Smith (Con, Ilkley) fears the new school coupled with the opening of a tennis club will generate extra traffic which could lead to rat runs.

But Peter Marsh, head teacher at All Saints, said that when the school was seeking its move to the Easby Road site it consulted parents on how the shift would affect their driving habits.

He said 77 per cent of parents responded that they currently drove their children to school but only 25 per cent said they would travel to the new site by car.

Coun Smith said: "There seems to me to be a potential for increased traffic along Skipton Road with the proposed new All Saints Primary School building on the Easby Road and Westville Road site.

"Use of either or both of these roads will cause chaos with the increased traffic generated by expanded road traffic to the tennis club at the junction of Stourton Road/Easby Road and Skipton Road as well as at the junction of Westville Road and Skipton Road.

"Any proposals put forward relative to Skipton Road would encourage increased traffic on Easby/Westville and Kings Road with the knock-on effects on to Grove Road and The Grove as alternative routes."

He said traffic lights at the bottom of Easby Road could be one way of combating congestion and rat-running but he warned against making snap solutions which could generate problems elsewhere.

A Bradford Council traffic spokesman said: "The access, transport and road safety implication of all the proposed changes in the schools reorganisation will be fully assessed and considered when planning applications are submitted.''

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