A BYLAW to stop revellers disturbing Ilkley residents with fireworks in the early hours is being considered by town leaders.

Ilkley parish councillors said on Monday they would look into the possibility of bring in a bylaw to prevent people setting off loud fireworks in the town at unsociable hours, following recent complaints from Ilkley residents when hotel guests set off fireworks.

Residents protested to parish councillors and wrote to the Ilkley Gazette early last month after being woken up by a volley of fireworks set off in the early hours on Wells Road, Ilkley. The fireworks were believed to have been set off in the Darwin Gardens area by a wedding guest.

Councillor Gerald Goldsbrough said on Monday: "I'm not suggesting we stop people having their enjoyment, but that we actually make sure the fireworks take place at certain times."

Fellow councillor Kate Brown said the council would be seen as a killjoy if it tried to ban people from setting off fireworks altogether. Sgt Esther Hobbs, of Ilkley Police, said the Craiglands Hotel liaised with police to work out the best time for setting off fireworks at parties and other events.

But she said individuals who set off fireworks late at night had often left the scene when police arrived to investigate complaints about loud fireworks.

Parish council chairman Mike Gibbons, said the parish council would look into the possibility of creating a bylaw.

A resident of nearby Queen's Road, Frazer Irwin, who said he and neighbours were disturbed by the incident, is to raise the issue with MP Ann Cryer. He believes the first step could be to appeal to people's better nature, and ask them not to set off loud fireworks at night.

Mr Irwin believes the problems with fireworks are growing as more people move into Ilkley, and do not treat it as a rural area.

He said: "We've got a lot of people moving into Ilkley who don't realise that it's a rural community, and I think that's something that can be drawn out more."