Businesses making a living in a historic village and tourist hot-spot say it is is showing "no sign" of its appeal.

Malcolm Gray, who owns Carlton Antiques in Salts Mill, is furious the village only has tiny badly-positioned road signs announcing visitors have arrived in the historic community, built from scratch by Victorian mill owner Sir Titus Salt.

Mr Gray said the "hidden away" signs - one near The Victoria Pub on Saltaire Road, close to the roundabout in Bradford Road on the A650 and another near Tower Road on the way from Bingley - were "just a joke".

He said: "I've canvassed traders and they all, without exception, say they are getting calls from people wanting to know exactly where Saltaire is because they've gone right past either into Bradford or Bingley - it's ludicrous.

"Saltaire is one of the most precious gems in the whole of the Bradford district, yet we don't have signs big enough to shout about it."

Now Mr Gray has contacted Bradford Council and is writing to MP Philip Davies to get the village a better chance of being noticed. Mr Gray is being joined by insurance broker Derek Cotson, who also criticised the Council for its lack of care in keeping the tiny streets looking tip-top and the lack of big signs pointing the way to Saltaire.

"There are quite a few weeds around, at times it looks a bit like a scene from Coronation Street rather than from a world heritage village.

"I do feel that now the Council has got the world heritage title it wanted to use so much as part of its marketing strategy, it has forgotten us again. I know they have helped support the festival but that is in just one month. There are 12 months in a year and promoting Saltaire should be all year round."

Anne Heald, of the Saltaire Tourist Information Centre in Victoria Road, said: "People just don't see the little Saltaire signs.

"We need bigger ones at every entry point to the village. I know the world heritage sign at the station brings in a lot of people who just get off to look round because of it."

Fellow trader Helen Kemp said: "We've been asking for bigger signs for years.

"There should be ones marking up our world heritage status at Fox Corner in Shipley especially, and on the motorway. Salts Mill is great but there's much more to Saltaire than just that."

A Council spokesman the two-year-old signs now in place were agreed at the time with the Saltaire Project Team which represented traders and residents.

"However, new bigger signs have been ordered which will make the village easier to find for visitors," she said.

e-mail: kathie.griffiths@bradford.newsquest.co.uk