Hundreds of people broke social distancing rules and crowded the riverside areas of Ilkley over the weekend.
Large groups gathered on Friday and Saturday which promoted the police to close Denton Road to motor vehicles through the day on Sunday for public safety reasons. Fifteen parking tickets were issued to illegally parked drivers on Friday.
Photos and videos shared on social media show vehicles park illegally, causing obstructions and the mess and litter left behind, with bins overflowing, Toilet roll and dirty nappies were dumped behind bushes, public toilets in the town are currently all closed.
Comments on Facebook also mentioned the litter left behind elsewhere in town, including on Ilkley Moor and the cemetery.
The issue is due to be discussed at the Ilkley Town Council meeting this evening (Monday 1 June), the clerk to the council posted on Facebook:
Thank you to everyone that contacted me last night regarding the visitors and mess in Ilkley.
Thank you to everyone’s efforts to address this today, I have been in contact with the police and BDMC and this will be discussed at the full council meeting on Monday night, the public are welcome to attend the zoom meeting. Details are on the website but if you need them directly please drop me a line.
We are also working to open the public toilets as soon as possible and as soon as we have the appropriate measures in place for social distance marking and regular cleaning with sanitizer stations in place.
I will try to update as much as possible on here.
Thank you.
Clerk to the Council
The Ilkley Gazette reported last week that three district Councillors have written to Bradford Council leaders urging action to tackle illegal and dangerous activities in the town.
Councillor Anne Hawkesworth (Ind, Ilkley), Councillor Kyle Green (Con, Ilkley) and Councillor Mike Gibbons (Con, Ilkley) fear a repeat of scenes from last year when an influx of summer visitors created huge disturbance to the town.