Residents fear a 150-year-old cobbled street will collapse if heavy lorries are not banned from using it.

Householders in Frizinghall say the lorries have already caused “atrocious” damage by using The Paddock, Bradley Street and South View during the construction of shops and student flats in Keighley Road.

Walls and fences have been knocked down, cobbles near Frizinghall Health Centre have been dislodged and homes have suffered cracking and subsidence, they claim.

The Paddock has already been closed off by developers Greenway Consortium Ltd, after cobbles collapsed – along with the cellar of a house – when a large crane was used during the building work. The company has admitted causing the collapse but has denied responsibility for any more damage in the area.

Residents in Bradley Street have now started a Save Our Street campaign for Bradford Council to ban heavy vehicles and to force Greenway to put right any problems before they get worse.

Campaigner Veronica Youngson, of Bradley Street, said: “The street is made for horses and carts, not motorway heavy goods vehicles.”

Sarah King, 21, said she and other Bradley Street residents would have to bear the cost of any repairs because the road is unadopted – meaning Bradford Council is not responsible for its maintenance.

Costs could run into tens of thousands of pounds.

Miss King said residents had spoken to the Council and the site foreman but nothing was being done.

Jonathan Taylor, 42, of South View, which leads on to Bradley Street, added: “If this carries on and the road collapses, we won’t be able to get out.”

Priya De Silva, executive director for Greenway, admitted “soggy ground” combined with the weight of a crane had caused cobbles in The Paddock to collapse, but he said lorries stopped using Bradley Street and South View in December – a fact refuted by residents.

A statement from the company said: “From the start we have tried to involve residents and the local community and are excited about completing this much-needed development. A significant amount of capital investment should help as a catalyst to regenerate the area.”

A Bradford Council spokesman said: “Although we do not have any powers to stop people using unadopted highways, we will investigate the situation and see if there are alternative routes vehicles could use.”