Addingham villagers fighting for a new bus link to Ilkley are likely to see their hopes dashed at a meeting tomorrow.

The 903 bus service started in December last year, taking passengers from Addingham to Steeton and Silsden station. An extension from the station then takes passengers on to Airedale Hospital.

Not everyone is delighted with the new service. A petition signed by 55 residents has been submitted to the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Authority, requesting a link between Addingham and Ilkley.

However, a meeting of the Bradford Passenger Consultative Committee tomorrow, is more than likely to reject this request.

The petitioners have been told that any attempt to link Addingham to Ilkley would be bad news for the existing service to Airedale Hospital.

A report before committee members states: 'Extending the service from Addingham to Ilkley would severely affect the scope and reliability of the current service. It would also mean that proposals to increase the number of journeys to Airedale General Hospital would be curtailed.'

In addition the report states Addingham is well served by links to Ilkley through the 765 and 784/X84 services.

Addingham parish councillor Bill Preston has been approached by numerous residents unhappy at the direction of the service.

"The existing services to Ilkley all go along Main Street. If pensioners want to go to Ilkley to do their shopping, many of them face a long walk to reach home if they have to get on/off at a stop in Main Street," he said. Coun Preston said the 903 service did reach into the areas of the village, the other services did not, but it was a case of the right service going in the wrong direction.

"If we had been consulted about the new service in the first place, we could have said which route was best for the village," he said.

He said: "We have a route we don't want and the route we actually want, they say we can't have."

The introduction of the bus service was made possible as part of a Government grant of more than £500,000 to the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Authority.

Not everyone is unhappy with the bus route. Several parish councillors have stated its importance for people needing to get to Airedale Hospital, while others have highlighted the importance of the Steeton rail link, and the opportunity for making rail connections.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.