VITAL repairs to a potholed access road in Skipton will go ahead after the town council decided not to fight to remove trailers from the land.

Although the repair work has been badly needed at the back of Walton Street for years, the council has held back from carrying out any work on the unmade road until it sought legal advice on whether they would be able to move the trailers on.

It is not known for exactly how many years one particular trailer has been there and the town council involved solicitors to look into whether the owner could have a squatters' right style claim to the land.

The council has been told that without proof of exactly how long it had been there it would be difficult to launch a case against the owner.

The road is owned by the town council as it was once part of the Bold Venture recreation ground, which the council has responsibility for.

Chief officer on Skipton Town Council Lis Moore said that it was regrettable that the situation had not been resolved years ago.

She added: "From the town council point of view, we have just moved on. We have looked at it to see if it's worth fighting and it would cost thousands to fight this case. Is it worth paying thousands of pounds for a small triangle of land?

"What I am interested in is getting that road safe so it does not damage people's cars and I want it safe for the kids."

She added that they also had to protect the right of way to the railway line and the caravan park at the bottom of the road.

Advice from Richard Marr, divisional engineer for North Yorkshire County Council, is that the best approach would be to reinstate previous speed bumps on the road and to put up warning signs. This would cost around £200.

The road borders Bold Venture play area and the fence which runs along the edge of this will be brought out to extend the playing area.

Terry Preston, who has lived in nearby Lindley Street for 47 years, said he believed the council should have done something about the situation years before.

"It's in a very dangerous state. There's great potholes and someone is going to fall there, such as an elderly person," he said.

He added that currently not a great deal of traffic used the road as it was only used for access to the railway and caravan park.

Stephen Phillip, who lives on Walton Street, told the Herald he welcomed the council rectifying the road but said that both he and his sister, Shirley, also a Walton Street resident, were concerned about the possible effects.

He explained that speed bumps had been put on the road in the 1980s but drivers had driven around them on grass verges which had resulted in the road being made wider and wider.

He said that the road was dusty and in need of work but said that if it was repaired it could encourage some motorists to drive faster.

"There's a lot of children that live towards the town and north of the park and they have to go across the track," he said.