PLANS to widen a local bottleneck have been welcomed by bosses at an Aire Valley manufacturer which says traffic congestion is causing serious disruption to its operations.

Concerns about delays due to congestion on routes to the motorways were raised with Bradford Council chiefs when they visited Acorn Stairlifts’ Steeton factory.

Company secretary David Belmont said

congestion between Steeton and the M606 motorway caused significant delays for its installers, who fit stairlifts across the UK.

He welcomed £7 million plans to widen a single carriageway stretch of Hard Ings Road in Keighley linking the A629 past Steeton with the A650 Aire Valley Road towards Bingley, which are both dual carriageways. Hard Ings Road suffers long delays at peak times.

He said: “As a Steeton-based business it can’t come soon enough for us. Our installers estimate that they could carry out one extra installation per day if it wasn’t for time lost sitting in traffic, and Hard Ings is a major contributor to that.”

The issue was raised with Bradford Council leader Susan Hinchcliffe and transport portfolio holder Councillor Alex Ross-Shaw when they visited the Acorn Stairlifts site.

Cllr Ross-Shaw welcomed the input and suggested the company’s views could help shape the Council’s transport plans, especially those for Hard Ings and links to the M606.

Councillor Hinchcliffe said: “Bradford Council is keen to see businesses flourishing in the district and has a specialist team which offers advice and support to help them expand and prosper. Acorn is a long-established company which believes in developing its staff and providing good training opportunities, which we fully support.

“Coming from a business background myself, I love to visit other businesses in the area to see what they produce and to learn how they operate and contribute to the local economy.

“It is really good to see that Acorn Stairlifts is investing in people and making a great product that is sold globally.”

In January, the council agreed the legal orders allowing it to buy land, if necessary, to widen Hard Ings Road. Discussions are taking place with landowners.

The scheme, being delivered through a West Yorkshire Combined Authority fund, is expected to be completed within the next four years.

Mr Belmont added: “We were delighted to host Coun. Hinchcliffe and her group for what was a very informative, useful and mutually beneficial visit. I’d like to thank them for taking the time to learn about our business and we look forward to working closely with Bradford Council in future.”

It included a factory tour led by Senior Operations Manager Nick Wilson and a presentation by Mr Belmont, who outlined the history of the company, its growth over 25 years and its current operation as the world’s biggest largest dedicated manufacturer of stairlifts.

Founded in Bradford in 1992, Acorn Stairlifts now manufactures more than 60,000 stairlifts per year at its factories in Steeton, Shipley and Scotland, selling direct to consumers throughout the UK and exporting to 82 countries. With exports now accounting for two-thirds of its near £150m turnover, Acorn has wholly-owned subsidiaries in Ireland, Belgium, Italy, France, Germany, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the USA, where it is the market leader for stairlifts.