Worries about crime led councillors to postpone a decision on a leisure trail on a former railway.

An application was made to Bradford Council to complete the first 3.2 kilometres of pathway from the start of the Great Northern Trail - which runs from Cullingworth to Queensbury .

But Shipley Planning Panel heard yesterday Cullingworth residents were concerned the route would cause security problems at nearby homes and make them burglary targets.

Councillor Robin Owens (Con, Bingley), chairman of the planning committee, said: "Objectors are worried about potential for increased crime."

He said he had not seen any evidence of consultations between Sustrans - the alternative transport lobby which has been given permission to re-open the line for pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders - and police to tackle the problem if it occurred.

Bradford Council planning officer Peter Bridgman said there was also a discrepancy in the application about hard surfacing of the route, which had to be resolved before the plan could be passed.

Mr Bridgman said some Cullingworth residents had also complained that notices giving details of the application had not been publicised in the area, as they should have been. The panel voted to defer the application until next month so the issues could be dealt with.

But Jeff McQuillan, chairman of the Great Northern Trail Forum which is spearheading the plans, told the meeting the concerns raised should have been spotted earlier and he warned the hold-up could jeopardise funding. He claimed the application had been checked by Council officials who had not reported any problems.

He said: "There's a lot of pressure on us to deliver. We have deadlines and, importantly, funding grant deadlines. There has been a lot of contact with the local people."

Mr McQuillan said redevelopment of the track was backed by 98 per cent of 1,500 people living along its route when they were consulted last year and security issues had been discussed at neighbourhood forums in the area. The first phase, between Cullingworth and Denholme and includes two Grade Two-listed viaducts, is expected to cost £500,000.

The 10-kilometre project has gained £85,000 backing from the Heritage Railway Trust and £66,000 from European Union coffers.

The line was closed to railway passengers in 1955 but continued in use for goods until the 1960s. The Great Northern Railway's Bradford-to-Keighley line was built between 1876 and 1884.