Police have expressed concerns about plans to build 475 homes in the Aire Valley.

Officers said there were security issues they believed had not been “satisfactorily addressed” in Bellway and Redrow’s application to build the estate off Sty Lane, Micklethwaite, Bingley.

Paul Corah, Bradford district architectural liaison officer for West Yorkshire Police, said the layout of the estate incorporated several features which could generate crime.

The list of potential problems included parking behind houses and cul de sacs with too many footpath exits for criminals.

Mr Corah’s report stated: “Rear parking courts present a number of problems and the belief that they are acceptable if they are provided with ‘natural surveillance from occupants’ is misleading and over-reliant as a means to reducing crime.”

Mr Corah said where cul de sacs had several footpath exits crime can be higher than cul de sacs which had fewer exits.

He also said that the plan for five access routes off the estate onto the canal towpath was “excessive and is unacceptable in terms of the additional escape routes the inclusion of these routes present.”

He advised reducing the number of footpaths to make it easier for potential criminals to be spotted.

Mr Corah also urged the developers to carefully consider the lighting of the estate and landscaping issues.

He said the aim should be to avoid creating hiding places or dark and secluded areas.

The report concluded: “This application cannot be fully supported by West Yorkshire Police without the above issues being satisfactorily addressed.”

The Greenhill Action Group (GAG), which opposes the development, has raised a petition containing more than 1,000 signatures.

On Saturday, the group hosted a stall at Bingley market where people were able to complete an objection postcard and sign the petition.

GAG chairman Terry Brown said he was concerned that crime prevention was being inadequately addressed by the developers.

He said: “There are so many footpaths, and so on. When it comes down to it, the safety and the security of the residents, if the scheme was to go ahead, should be paramount in the developer’s considerations, rather than how many houses they can get on the site.

“We are not aware of all the security and the police guidelines regarding these sorts of things and it’s good that the police have taken the time to look at this and comment on the site.”

Bellway and Redrow declined to comment on the police concerns.