Steeton residents have called for an in-depth traffic management strategy for their village.

They want the scheme to cover congestion on the main road through the village as well as access to and from side roads.

It could take into account issues such as rat-running, car parking, bus stops and parents taking children to Steeton Primary School.

Residents particularly want the scheme to address a potential rise in traffic jams after a new 220-home development is built on Thornhill Road.

They fear accidents at the junction of Thornhill Road and Skipton Road, and emergency vehicles getting blocked on their way to and from nearby Airedale Hospital The call for a village-wide scheme was made at a public meeting on Monday to discuss plans for traffic lights at the Thornhill Road/Skipton Road junction.

Applause greeted a resident’s claim that the only solution was a “properly looked-at” scheme covering Skipton Road from Steeton Top to the hospital.

Monday’s meeting was hosted by councillors Andrew Mallinson and Adrian Naylor and parish council chairman David Mullen.

Redrow Homes, which will build the new housing, already has planning permission to widen Skipton Road to create a third lane for turning into Thornhill Road.

The company has now submitted an alternative application, dropping the third lane in favour of traffic lights at the junction. An informal vote at the start of the meeting – which was attended by at least 50 people – showed more people against the lights than in favour, with several others undecided.

Councillors and residents claimed the lights would worsen existing traffic problems, which include afternoon jams that back-up from Steeton Top to Eastburn.

One resident branded the proposed scheme a shambles, adding: “It hasn’t been thought out properly”. Another said the lights would be “another patch on the patchwork” of congestion hotspots.

Coun Mallinson said a traffic impact study should have been carried out as part of the application, looking at issues such as emergency vehicles, buses, wagons, and the effects on surrounding roads.

The councillors urged all the villagers to send their views – for or against the lights – to Bradford Council.