HUNDREDS of people are expected to take part in a mass anti-lorry protest march through Otley.

Quarry operator Hanson has this week offered to bring in a one way system through the town which it claims will reduce HGV traffic by around 40 lorries a day.

But campaigners, who are pressing ahead with demands for a total lorry ban, say it is not enough and are now planning a march through the town centre.

There are also fears that it will push additional heavy traffic through Pool-in-Wharfedale.

Hanson, which operates Greenhow Quarry at Pateley Bridge, has said laden lorries will still continue to travel through Otley via Newall Carr Road and Billams Hill, but will return to the quarry by other routes.

The company, which switched its original offer to stop laden HGVs through the town, expects the number of lorry journeys through the town to be cut by around 40 a day, but Safety on Otley's Road Action Group (SOOR) says although it is a step in the right direction, it is not enough.

Phil Coyne, SOOR chairman, said: "We welcome the fact that Hanson accept there is a problem, but what they are proposing does not adequately solve it.

"They are saying that empty wagons will not come through Otley, but that does not address the problem for householders on Newall Carr Road and schoolchildren on Bridge Street who will still have lorries coming past them.

"The only adequate solution is a lorry ban and we are now planning to organise a mass march along the route."

Coun Clive Fox (Con, Otley and Wharfedale) criticised the Hanson offer and added it was likely to increase traffic through Pool-in-Wharfedale.

"It's extraordinary that one day Hanson are proposing to route their vehicles in a particular direction one day and the very next day they are talking about sending them the other way round.

"It does not suggest to me that they have really thought things through.

"A ban on loaded quarry vehicles travelling south down Billams Hill seems to me far more preferable to the alternative of requiring empty vehicles only to avoid Otley because at least that reduces the risk of fully laden vehicles running out of control down the hill.

"Obviously, 40 fewer HGVs a day on Billams Hill, whichever option Hanson goes for, would be welcome news for Otley.

"However, that only represents only a 15 per cent reduction in the number of HGVs travelling on Billams Hill each week day.

"The way Hanson are talking at the moment, these vehicles would be diverted through Pool and that is not going to be popular in the village."

He added: "Despite the recent traffic calming measures in Pool, the volume and speed of traffic through the village is the number one issue for most people living there. It makes sense to route vehicles in transit onto major roads which as far as possible do not run through villages."

A spokeswoman for Leeds City Council said: "The council has been in discussions with Hanson about traffic from their quarry and the company came up with a plan which would reduce the number of lorries travelling through Otley.

"Several options are understood to have been considered by the company.

"Their original plan would have avoided quarry vehicles travelling down Newall Carr Road into the town.

"However, their plan has been amended so that lorries will continue to travel in through Otley but return by different routes, avoiding the town.

"The plan is expected to halve the amount of quarry traffic travelling through Otley, by around 40 vehicles a week day.

"The company's action is a welcome step forward, but we will still look at ways of alleviating the situation in Otley."

The spokeswoman added: "We will continue to monitor traffic very closely to ascertain the effects of the quarry operator's new way of working, especially since the plan now being followed will leave lorries travelling down Newall Carr Road."