THE first steps to remove around 20 per cent of cars parked in Ilkley's streets could be set in motion by the end of the month.

Questionnaires have been delivered to around 300 houses in the town to discover people's transport needs.

Campaigners believe that if Ilkley's hopper bus services began earlier in the morning, residents would not need to leave their cars in the town centre while they commuted by train.

If a need for an earlier hopper bus service is apparent from people's views, campaigners can apply for a subsidy to run it.

Ilkley district councillor Martin Smith (Conservative) said he believed that up to 20 per cent of parked vehicles could be removed from town centre streets if the hopper bus service was available for commuters.

Coun Smith, a member of the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Consultative Committee, said: "People come into town in cars, leaving them parked all day because the buses do not start until later - it could make a big impact on the town."

He believes that people could be persuaded to leave their cars at homes if a bus service was operating at the time they went to work.

Although the service would not be expected to make a profit, it could attract a Government subsidy if there was a need for it and it did not compete with an existing profit-making service.

Once they have the basic information provided by the survey, the transport authority Metro will decide whether a rural transport grant could be provided to extend the hopper service so buses could begin running earlier in the day. At present, streets such as Wells Road, Riddings Road, Wells Promenade, Cowpasture Road and others are clogged up from early morning until teatime by commuter cars during the working week.

But more frequent and earlier hopper bus services could not just help Ilkley, they could also ease traffic nightmares in the villages of Ben Rhydding and Burley-in-Wharfedale where many cars are parked all day while their owners use the train to get to work and back.

Moves are thought to be afoot as part of the wide-ranging £1 million traffic improvements scheme for Ilkley to restrict town centre parking.

Coun Smith also said that residents in areas behind the railway station, around Railway Road, also needed help to stop commuter cars blocking their homes every day. A system of resident permit parking could be introduced.

Coun Smith said that the completed questionnaires could be collected by the end of the month and their results passed on to Metro for consideration.

He said he was hoping that the results would bear out his theory that more frequent public transport would reduce Ilkley's horrendous parking problems.