A campaign has started to have a pedestrian crossing re-instated after it was removed when Bradford's guided bus lane was built in Manchester Road.

Residents complain they now face an inconvenient detour during their five daily trips to the mosque for prayers. They say it is a particular problem for the elderly and infirm, while youths are vaulting the central reservation, causing a hazard.

The crossing, at the junction of Manchester Road, Marshfield Street and Baxandale Street, was replaced with a new one further up Manchester Road at Donisthorpe Street.

The busy dual carriageway separates the communities of West Bowling and Marshfields, and people making their way from one to the other now face a detour.

Bradford Council is staging a consultation exercise to gauge people's views. Officials say putting the pedestrian crossing back where it was would cost an estimated £100,000, but it would be considered if there was enough demand for it.

They outlined the options at a consultation event at St Stephen's Church in West Bowling to which 2,000 local families living either side of the busy road were invited.

Council senior engineer Richard Day said: "A number of people have approached the council and asked us to review this. It's true the people living around the old crossing have been disadvantaged, although people living further up are better off. It's not too late, even though the road scheme is in place - a pedestrian crossing could be built."

Mumtaz Hussain, of West Bowling, said the pedestrian crossing should be reinstated.

She said: "At the moment people are jumping over the barrier and someone's going to get hurt. I've even done it myself because the doctor's surgery was shutting and I needed a prescription. My mother has renal failure and she can no longer walk to the shops because the crossing has gone, we have to take her round in the car."

Neighbour Shakila Kauser added: "My dad can't walk too well, and now we have to drop everything and walk him all the way round to the new crossing. He used to be able to get to the doctor's himself."

Another West Bowling woman, who did not want to be named, said she had written several letters of protest to the council on behalf of local residents who now struggled to attend the mosque in Ryan Street. "Muslims have to pray five times a day and although the young guys just jump the barriers, the old ones have to trek all the way round to the new crossing, which is a problem for them," she said.