Bradford Council was today on a collision course with the Highways Agency over who is responsible for further easing traffic congestion on a key commuter route.

The Council has told the agency it is not prepared to take over the A650 between Hard Ings, Keighley, and Frizinghall, including the newly-opened £47.9 million Bingley relief road, until a scheme is put in place to sort out traffic problems in Saltaire and Shipley.

The authority has now put in an official objection to the Agency's plan to de-trunk the road - which would leave it in control of repairs, maintenance and major improvement schemes.

Council highways chiefs have argued that the Highways Agency should have had projects and funding in place to meet the inevitable traffic consequences in Saltaire and Shipley of thousands of vehicles using Bingley relief road.

Alan Mainwaring, director of transportation, planning and design, said: "We do not want them to implement a scheme but we want it passed on with a solution and funding."

He said any schemes the Council came up with would have to compete with projects from all five West Yorkshire authorities for funding from the finance allocated by the Government for the Local Transport Plan.

The bids would also include funding for Bradford's new city centre road schemes.

But Shipley Labour MP Chris Leslie insisted it was the Council's responsibility.

"It is a bit late and a bit rich to say we should sort out the district's roads," he said. "Nobody can say the Highways Agency hasn't done its share for the district. The Council has its own engineers and it ought to take the responsibility. Trying to shuffle it on to the Highways agency isn't the best way."

But there were fears today that drivers would suffer, with nothing being done to tackle the mayhem, if the dispute is not resolved.

Councillor David Ford (Green, Shipley West) said: "I fully understand the Council's view but I hope it will not result in too long a delay with nothing being done in the meantime.

"People in the area have been complaining about an appalling increase in traffic. It is a dreadful situation and there needs to be a robust and radical solution.

"If neither side is prepared to take responsibility the people of the district are going to suffer."

Councillor Anne Hawkesworth, executive member for the environment, including transport, said: "They should hand it to us with a funded solution. They have known about it for years and there is not even a design on the board to solve the problems. It is absolutely unacceptable."

A Highways Agency spokesman said it was seeking talks with the Council but had no powers to force it to accept responsibility for the road. The Department of Transport could act in extreme circumstances to pass a road to a local authority but it hoped to settle the dispute amicably.

l A neighbourhood forum will be held at Victoria Hall, Saltaire, on Tuesday, April 6, at 7.30pm to discuss the traffic problems in Saltaire, Cottingley, Nab Wood and Shipley.

Transport and traffic engineers, police, Metro and councillors will attend.