A sweeping plan to bring the whole of a Yorkshire spa town under a 20mph zone must be more measured to serve safety and a sense of heritage space, civic leaders have said.

Consultations close today over the plans for Ilkley and Ben Rhydding, which would also see over 100 speed bumps or what authorities term 'traffic tables and cushions'.

The move has split opinion, backed by the town council but opposed by MP Robbie Moore, who dubbed a blanket move "misjudged" and an "unwise" use of taxpayers' money.

Now Ilkley's Civic Society has urged Bradford Council to put more thought into plans, if it is to put both safety and the historic town's identity at the forefront of ambitions.

Consultations so far mark a "first start", a spokesman said, but called on the authority to consider a far more wide reaching assessment.

The town's sense of place - its street furniture and conservation area and its reputation as a centre for tourism must also be considered, he stressed.

"Ilkley Civic Society accepts the need for traffic calming in the town and is pleased to be involved in the recent Bradford Council consultation," the spokesman said.

"We however would much prefer a scheme covering specific areas of the town, rather than the whole town, to reduce speed and improve the safety of all pedestrians. One of which would be the town centre, which is a Conservation Area."

In a four-page submission, Ilkley's Civic Society said it cannot fully back the proposal without seeing information on the reasons behind the decision-making process.

In comments on a consultation event last month, where proposals were put before the public, they outlined a lack of depth when it came to the details.

There were maps of where speed measures would be placed, the body said, along with one of accidents and speed survey results, but there were no explanations.

There was no detail on aims, objectives or success factors, or even reasoning as to how roads were chosen. Accident data was out of date, it claimed. Even less was available online, the civic society outlined, with the 'purpose of the consultation' being one line long.

Ilkley Civic Society called on the authority instead to carry out an Urban Realm Study, as it has previously committed to, improving pedestrian safety along with the built environment.

"The benefits of the proposal have not been assessed but appear to us to be poor in terms of safety and value for money," submissions read.

The wider plans were backed by Ilkley Town Council in March, and while it would be funded by Bradford Council the smaller authority would match fund up to £87,500.

A Bradford Council spokesperson said the proposals are part of a wider roll-out to improve safety and encourage walking and cycling, with similar in place for the city centre and Shipley.

Draft proposals reflected the considered approach of engineers, they added, based on traffic surveys, accident data and judgement in anticipating changes to driver behaviour.

They added: "The data was made available at the drop-in session held, which was very well attended. The data is complex to read and requires an officer to explain the information, for this purpose the information was not provided online however any person requesting information could contact an officer first for the explanation.

Call for rethink on sweeping 20mph zone to stop speeding in Yorkshire spa town of Ilkley

“Officers are already considering feedback on the scheme and any changes that could be made to better reflect the comments received from residents.”