Time restrictions are needed for on-street parking in Ilkley, says a councillor, amid calls for charges to be dropped in the town’s central car park.

Councillor Anne Hawkesworth (Ind, Ilkley) says that a parking disc system similar to that used in Harrogate, restricting on-street parking to a maximum of four hours, should be investigated.

And she called for a ‘park and ride’ scheme between Addingham and Ilkley station.

But she disagrees with free parking in the Bradford Council-run central South Hawksworth Street car park.

Coun Hawkesworth said: “The perennial problem is raising its head. We have some calling for free parking in the main car park. We have residents complaining about parking on residential streets. Why free parking in the car park?

“Who would gain by it? Certainly not the shops. It would stop the quick flow of parking needed in shopping areas.

“Most of the district has pay and display on-street parking. We don’t because it has been resisted by local politicians, the argument being South Hawksworth Street makes up the difference.”