Details of proposals to boost road safety by creating a £5,000 school zone on a busy Baildon road have been unveiled to villagers.

Bradford Council's Shipley Constituency Area Panel set aside the money for road safety measures in West Lane near Belmont Middle School last spring after hearing local people's concerns about motorists' speed.

The work, aimed at getting drivers to kill their speed, is due to be carried out during the 1999-2000 financial year and the Council is asking for the public's comments before finalising its proposals.

Features included in the proposed scheme include high-visibility school zone signs on the approaches to Belmont - set to become a primary under Bradford's switch to a two-tier education system - red surfacing and "slow'' markings on the road next to them as well as white triangular "dragons' teeth'' on the approach.

There would be hatching in the middle of the carriageway by both entrances to the school as well as two "school - keep clear'' markings.

Renee Lancaster, chairman of the Baildon and Shipley Road Safety Committee, welcomed the proposals.

She said: "People are very concerned about the speed of traffic on West Lane and I'm all in favour of anything that will make things safer.''

Mrs Lancaster said there had not been any major accidents in the area but added: "It's more a case of an accident waiting to happen and hopefully this will mean we don't have one."

Paul Richardson, headteacher at Sandal First School which is set to re-locate as a primary on the Belmont site, said: "We'd support this 100 per cent - hopefully it will get people to slow down but if there was anything else that needed doing we'd continue lobbying for it.''

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