A proposal to run a vintage bus on a route in Haworth has been opposed by a body which markets the area.

Members of the Bront Country Partnership feared the plan would lead to Keighley and District Travel abandoning its own 812 service.

The route runs between Haworth Railway Station, the Bront Parsonage and Ponden Mill.

The 812 service operates in summer but briefly resumed for several weekends last month.

The proposal for a vintage bus to compete on the route was put forward by a Halifax-based firm.

It argued a heritage vehicle would be more eye-catching and appealing to customers than the modern Keighley and District buses.

Graham Mitchell, the partnership treasurer, noted there was no legal barrier to the Halifax firm entering the Haworth market.

However, he said the current 812 service was a very good one, giving people plenty of access to the village's attractions and allowing easy access to people with disabilities.

He added that the route was not commercially viable, even with one operator, so there would not be enough revenue to support two.

Others present at the meeting echoed his concerns.

Lorraine Clarke, the chairman, warned: "If we cut Keighley and District out this year then they're not coming back next year."

David Jones, secretary of Keighley Bus Museum Trust, said his organisation had considered the possibility of operating the route itself.

He said the idea was rejected because the bus would have to negotiate some very steep slopes.

He said: "We do not consider that it is appropriate to our role as a preservation organisation to thrash our vintage vehicles continuously to maintain a service in this sort of terrain."

l A report commissioned to help solve parking problems in Haworth was not "site specific" enough, according to the chairman of the partnership.

Lorraine Clarke said the Haworth Green Travel plan failed to come up with detailed solutions.

"I was very disappointed with the report," she said.

"I felt that anybody could have written it."

The document was drafted by Richard Armitage's Transport Consultancy Ltd.

Mr Armitage defended the findings -- saying it was impossible to reach more definite conclusions at this stage.

He said: "There needs to be a proper discussion with highways engineering in Bradford city and with car parks management to talk some specifics.

"We need to seriously consider how traffic is allowed in and out of Main Street, in Haworth."

He warned that introducing official traffic management orders would require lengthy consultation and would cost money.

He acknowledged the current congestion in the village centre was "dangerous" as well as inconvenient, saying: "All you need is one child being crushed by a lorry in Main Street."

Mrs Clarke said coach drivers who brought groups of tourists to Haworth would not want to return because it was a nightmare finding a parking place.

"People will vote with their wheels," she said.

Alan Bentley, of the Bront Parsonage Museum, agreed, saying companies would no longer recommend Haworth as an attractive destination if the traffic problem dragged on.