Pedestrians have welcomed new sensory crossings which signal the end of hazardous subways under a busy Bradford Road.

The new Puffin crossings, due to open on Monday, over the junction between Manchester Road and Mayo Avenue use microwave movement sensors to allow people as much time as they need to navigate the road.

It is the latest phase in a programme of work by the South Bradford Integrated Transport Improvements project, a partnership between builders Mowlem and Bradford Council.

In October, it transformed the roundabout at the Manchester Road-Mayo Avenue junction into a signal-controlled junction.

Members of West Bowling's Over 55s Club told Mowlem team technical manager Martin Thornton, they welcomed the crossings when he met them at Parkside Community Centre yesterday.

Joan Thompson, 68, of Gaythorne Road, West Bowling, said: "I used to have to go through the underpass to get to Morr-isons. It was dirty, smelly and frightening.

"There was a big bend in the middle so you could not see what was coming the other way."

And Enid Howarth, 71, of Clipstone Street, said: "For pedestrians the crossings will be much better. The subways were the worst. There used to be drunkards down there and people used them as toilets so they were smelly."

Using two detectors on the footpath at either side of the road and a third on the crossing, the smart system can tell when someone is using the crossing and has safely arrived at the other side, signalling the all-clear for traffic.

Mr Thornton said: "The detectors work quite cleverly together. They pick up movements from one side of the road to the other. If someone presses the button and runs off, the traffic will not stop because the sensor will realise no one is stood waiting to cross on the footpath.

"We cannot really legislate against people fooling around on the crossings.

"The system will give a certain amount of time for movement in the middle of the road as long as there is movement. But it will cut out at a certain point if there is no movement.