THOUSANDS of pounds from Ilkley's parish precept will help revamp a popular riverside footpath in Ilkley.

Ilkley Parish Council has agreed to spend £3,500 from its Special Projects pot on the footpath between Beanlands Parade and the suspension bridge over the River Wharfe.

The money will be added to £3,000 of funding already being provided by Bradford Council, which is about to begin work on the path, after appeals by parish councillor Lexa Robinson.

Bradford officers recently did a site visit on the footpath with Councillor Robinson and Councillor Mike Gibbons, and agreed to carry out work on the fencing. Coun Robinson had complained that the fencing was in a poor state of repair and that some sections were missing altogether.

But Bradford said it could not provide the £3,500 funding to do additional work to improve the footpath. The parish council agreed last week that it would give the money.

Councillor Robinson told councillors how a volunteer had demonstrated the discomfort of disabled people using the path by going along it in a wheelchair. She said the path, via the suspension bridge, was also a key public right of way for those south of the river to get to Middleton Woods.

The overall improvements destined for the footpath include widening it by around half a metre in places, removing soil and debris from the edges, pruning overhanging trees, and putting in wooden edging which will allow sections of the footpath to be resurfaced.

Bradford Council officers included the upgrade of access to the river by the suspension bridge in its costings, although this has not been designed for wheelchair use. Other work mooted included repairs to damaged sections of a fence and a new 90-metre section of timber fencing from the suspension bridge to Bath Street.

Coun Robinson is now pressing for improvements to the north side of the river.