Work has finally started on a skateboard park in Cottingley which aims to take youngsters off the streets and give them something to do.

Campaigners have battled for several years for the park and multi-use games area, which could include a football pitch and basketball court.

The £90,000 project, on the site of the former Cottingley Manor School playing fields off Cottingley New Road, follows a petition by youngsters in the village who want somewhere to go and play.

Bradford Council revealed several possible sites last year after a group of residents protested against the original idea for the development to be at the Cottingley recreation ground near Fairy Dell.

The Manor School site, located close to Cannon's Health Club and the Yorkshire Clinic, was selected by Council officers from the list and by the end of November it should boast a series of ramps and bars for skateboarders to test their skills.

Youngsters are also being given the chance to choose other equipment which will be installed in the next few weeks.

Bradford Council leader and ward councillor Margaret Eaton (Con, Bingley Rural) welcomed the development.

She said: "It is great to see the work begin on this important facility after the dogged determination of local young people to see the project through.

"We are also grateful to developers David Wilson Homes for their contribution to the scheme and Cottingley residents for their support of the scheme."

But Howard Clough, chairman of Cottingley Community Association and a member of the team who campaigned for the equipment, said he felt the facility was being built in the wrong place and could not be accessed by everybody.

Mr Clough said: "As I have said all along I think it's been built in the wrong place.

"The main roads have become increasingly busy since the opening of the bypass and I don't think any normal parent would want to send their children from across the village to the site."

However Mr Clough said he welcomed "something positive" for youngsters in the village after several years of campaigning.

Bradford Council's parks and landscape service is constructing the facility and £30,000 of funding has been provided by David Wilson Homes as part of a planning agreement for a development of new houses in Cottingley Moor Road. The Council has provided £60,000.

Ian Day, principal technical and development manager for Bradford Council's parks and landscape services, said: "Wheel parks take children away from inappropriate use of street furniture and off the roads so have wider benefits for the whole community."