A ROAD safety call to screen floodlights at Ben Rhydding Sports Club has been ruled out because of the high cost.

The Ilkley and District Road Safety Committee is to ask officials at the sports club to screen the lights visible from Denton Road.

Members said a complaint was received about drivers being dazzled by the floodlights as they drove on Denton Road from Askwith.

A report to the meeting says: "On the approach from the Askwith and Denton direction in the darkness, the brilliance of the lights is very disconcerting."

Members resolved to contact the sports club to see what could be done about shielding them from the

road.

But sports club president Peter Cussons said that an earlier approach to contractors resulted in shielding being ruled out.

"The cost was astronomical - people said it would be anything between £10,000 and £50,000. Unless Bradford Council wanted to pay for it, it is just out of the question," said Mr Cussons.

He added: "We are a small private club and we just can't afford that."

Mr Cussons said the floodlights were installed about six years ago and there had only been one complaint since then.

He said: "There is very little we can do. About 1,000 people a week use the facilities and a lot of that is of an evening in winter."

He said he knew of a particular spot on the road where drivers are confronted with bright lights and suggested trees could be planted at that location near the road.

If the trees were planted in front of the sports club floodlights they would need to be about 100-feet high, but if they were planted by the side of the road by the highway authority, they could be much smaller and cheaper, Mr Cussons added.

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