Bradford Council has been urged to scrap its plans to introduce 20mph zones in the city centre.

The Council announced plans to introduce new speed limits in most city centre streets, as well as around a “significant” number of the district’s schools.

But at a meeting of the full Council next week, one Councillor will call for the scheme to be dropped, and point to how a similar order in Manchester failed to reduce speeding.

Implementing the new limits is expected to cost around £120,000.

Councillor Debbie Davies (Cons, Baildon) will put forward a motion at the meeting calling for the plans to be halted, and for the £120,000 to be spent on enforcing existing speed limits throughout the district instead.

The new zone is likely to cover the city centre within the inner ring road - and extend to include the streets around Bradford College and University.

Roads that would be exempt include Hall Ings, Princes Way/Godwin Street and the area of Manchester Road that falls within the boundary.

When the plans were first announced, the Council said they were to “protect vulnerable road users including children, pedestrians and cyclists by improving road safety at key locations of the district.”

Cllr Davies’ motion says the Council should “Scrap plans for the introduction of a City Centre 20mph zone and instead distributes the £120,000 estimated cost of introducing one, between the Council wards, so that such speed limits can be introduced near schools or other appropriate sites.”

She points to a similar scheme in Manchester that was dropped last year. The City Council had planned to cut the limit on minor residential roads to 20mph, but last year it was announced that the roll out had been halted after it emerged that speeds have not changed significantly in the new 20mph zones. In some areas, the speeds on these roads had gone up.

She also refers to a survey on the T&A website after the proposed limits were announced. It asked people whether they were in favour of the new limits - 58 per cent of people said they were not.

Cllr Davies said: “In Manchester they found that introducing this limit was not always effective in reducing speed.

“It is also going to frustrate sensible drivers. Law abiding motorists would slow down, but the people who do speed, people in stolen cars or on false plates, aren’t going to slow down.

“Police struggle to enforce existing speed limits, not just in Bradford but other areas of the district. Speeding is bad in Baildon too, but this won’t do anything to help that.

“Speeding isn’t just a problem in the city centre. This is a lot of money to be spending in one area of the district.”

She suggests that the money the Council has planned to spend on the scheme should be distributed throughout the district, with each area given cash to help reduce speeding in whatever way they see fit.

Councillor Alex Ross-Shaw, Portfolio Holder for Regeneration, Planning and Transport, on the Council, said reducing speed limits has proven to be a success in other parts of the country. He said: “Twenty-mile-an-hour zones are proven to encourage safer driving and produce a better environment for pedestrians and cyclists.

“Other cities, such as Sheffield and Birmingham have successfully introduced them.

“It’s important that the speed of the traffic on each street is considered, which is why we’re not proposing to introduce 20mph zones on larger roads such as Hall Ings and Prince’s Way.

“We’ve already announced we’re introducing more 20mph zones around schools and these will also be consulted on soon.

“We haven’t launched the consultation yet but when we do, we’ll listen to all responses and take the feedback into account when considering any final proposals.”