A POPULAR country park could be closed to vehicles following concerns over fly-tipping and “unsocial” activities.

A report to the Bradford South Area Committee says that while Horton Bank Country Park, off Great Horton Road, is well used by locals and visitors from outside the area, it has become a hotspot for fly-tipping.

According to the document, which will be reviewed by councillors on Thursday evening, the park has fallen victim to rubbish being dumped illegally on a number of occasions.

It says: “...the subsequent clean-up costs do create a budget pressure for the service, not to mention the unsightly mess that greets visitors upon their arrival.”

Not only has fly-tipping become a problem, but “the car park is also an area where unsocial activities are commonplace during both daylight and nighttime hours and such activity does not provide a welcoming image upon entering the site.”

The report says that in an effort to tackle these issues, the option of permanently closing the car park to vehicles is being considered.

The access gates would be locked, but the site would still be accessible through a pedestrian access point.

While the car park would be closed, the report outlines that nearby roads “provide an option for car parking”.

It sets out the four options available to the committee.

Councillors could choose to do nothing, but continue with clean-ups until the budget is exhausted or permanently lock the gates for vehicular access leaving pedestrian access only.

Other options include opening and securing the gates on a daily basis, but the report sets out there is a lack of resources and budget to do this.

The final option would be to install CCTV cameras, but the report says there is currently no Parks and Green Spaces budget to bring this to fruition.

It is recommended that councillors move to permanently close the gates to stop vehicles accessing the car park of the country park.

Paul Cromie, independent councillor for Queensbury, said he felt the park should be left as it is.

He said: "The fly-tippers will fly-tip somewhere, it won't make any difference closing it off."

Cllr Cromie added acknowledged things cannot be monitored all the time, but said it would be a "shame" to block the country park off to "decent, hardworking" people.

Cllr Andrew Senior said: "It’s a real shame that it has come to this. Unfortunately there is a history of anti-social behaviour in the car park on the site that discourages families from enjoying what is a lovely community park, hopefully this would encourage more families to visit the park without feeling intimidated."