A plan to restore one of the most famous cobbled streets in the country is to have local input.

Haworth people are to be invited to have their say about a project to preserve and enhance the town’s historic Main Street.

Bradford Council, which is spearheading the project, has been praised for starting a study and hiring experts to investigate how the setts were originally laid.

No date has been set for the work but in the meantime people will be given a chance to feed into the study.

Bronte Parsonage Museum director Andrew McCarthy welcomed the project. He said: “This is fantastic news because the setts are not in a good state and there are probably health and safety issues involved.

“The cobbles are quintessentially Haworth. They are just as intimately associated with Haworth as the Brontes – they absolutely identify the village.”

They were significant in the 19th century when Mrs Gaskell wrote her biography of Charlotte Bronte, he said.

“She refers to them and talks about the setts being laid in such a way as to stop horses slipping on the steep hill.

“There are many other setted streets in Haworth and I’ll be asking the Council about them, particularly Church Street which leads to the Parsonage.”

Chris McCarthy, of the newly-formed Haworth Village Association, said it was great news coming just as the village plan had been published.

“The plan emphasises the importance of the setts to the village and that they should be a top priority for maintenance,” he said.

Some of the setts were loose with deep cracks in places and it was important that long-term restoration took place as soon as possible, he said.

Haworth, Cross Roads and Stanbury Parish Council had been working closely with Bradford City Hall chiefs on the project, said its chairman, Councillor John Huxley. He said: “This investigation will be the first step towards ensuring Haworth’s great character is maintained and preserved for further generations.

“Besides proving an incentive for visitors to make Haworth a destination, this fantastic street scene gives residents a sense of identity and pride.”

Bradford Council has appointed consulting engineers Sanderson Associates and landscape architects Camlin Lonsdale to carry out the investigation which will look at how the setts were originally laid down.