COMMUTER parking and the arrival of new businesses is causing chaos for people living on a residential Ilkley street.

A ward councillor has stepped in to help residents of Bridge Lane, who say they cannot park anywhere near their homes for most of the day.

Cllr Martin Smith (Con, Ilkley) says new restrictions for the Bridge Lane area, as well as other parts of Ilkley, are currently in the pipeline.

He has also contacted officers, concerned that parking is not being sufficiently taken into account when new building developments are considered by planners.

Bridge Lane resident Sarah Spiers contacted Ilkley’s three ward councillors over parking problems in Bridge Lane, as well as senior Bradford Council officers.

Although there is a section of the street reserved for resident-only parking from 6pm to 8am, residents who leave and attempt to return outside of these times are struggling to park near their own homes, she says, and the number of parking bays available are not sufficient.

A planning application for new houses was recently agreed just off the street, in Castle Hill. A garage opened on part of the former Glover’s Garage site, and residents believe demand for parking in the area has increased as a result of the opening of The Flying Duck pub in Church Street, Outside the Box Cafe in Bridge Lane, and The Black Hat bar and restaurant in Church Street.

Cllr Smith said: “Clearly the garage, which was always a problem in the past, has now lost its parking in the new site for houses where the separate garages were.”

Sarah Spiers said: “When the residents of Bridge Lane moved into our properties, these parking bays provided sufficient parking for the residents of the street. “There was not a parking problem at all when we decided to purchase our properties in Bridge Lane.

“Parking chaos is now a daily occurrence in Bridge Lane, with our young children forced to witness increasingly aggressive and unpleasant behaviour and language from frustrated drivers.

“We also have understandable concerns about leaving our young children unattended, either in our cars or at home, whilst we carry shopping, car seats and pushchairs from cars parked up to 300 yards away.”

Cllr Smith claims many commuters who leave their vehicles in town all day are residents of North Yorkshire, who drive to Ilkley to make use of Metro-subsidised train fares to and from Leeds and Bradford.