A bid to ban parking in a courtyard off Keighley bus station was abandoned by Bradford council this week.

Shops and businesses which surround Back Lawkholme Crescent raised a chorus of opposition to the plan to impose waiting restrictions.

Council highways officers originally wanted to reduce congestion and solve entry/exit problems at the courtyard's two junctions with Lawkholme Crescent. But the highways committee, which met this week, threw out the proposal.

At present there are no rest-rictions in Back Lawkholme Crescent, which is heavily used by business owners, customers and delivery wagons.

Keighley Cycling Club, which has a base above the courtyard, objected to the plan while accepting that getting in and out had become hazardous. Club members urged the council not to alter the situation because at present they know who owns the vehicles and can ask them to move. Member Lewis Woods said: "It is common sense to leave it as it is."

The Abbey National was unh-appy with the proposals, which would have reduced the number of parking spaces at the back of its Cooke Lane branch. A spokesman said: "This could affect our business dramatically as there is only half-an-hour parking outside our main doors."

A spokesman for Scooby Enterprises in Cavendish Street, which backs onto Back Lawkholme Crescent, says the restrictions would have made it almost impossible to operate because loading and unloading would be restricted.

Councillors to approved parking bans in three other areas of central Keighley despite objections.

Alan Smith, landlord of the Friendly Inn, said new waiting restrictions in Aireworth Street would bar him from parking outside his pub.

A Lawkholme resident had originally objected to waiting restrictions along Bradford Street because she mistakenly thought they would be outside her house. Keighley firms Peter Black and Keighley Glazing also made objections to the proposals but withdrew them after talking to council officers.

And a chat with officers persuaded an objector to agree to plans to impose restrictions in Oakworth Road next to Fanny Street.

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