A BUILDER has agreed to dig deeper into the company coffers to help fund a consultation into how to improve road safety for Skipton pedestrians.

It comes after an appeal to Henry Boot by Craven Councillor Andy Solloway to help speed up the investigation.

The construction company, which is to built 225 homes on Wyvern Park, off Carleton Road, Skipton, has agreed to release £7,400 from the £180,000 set aside to finance the road scheme. It had originally promised an initial £1,350.

Coun Solloway and Tim Forman, who lives in Hothfield Terrace, have been calling for North Yorkshire County Council to get on with the consultation which would involve speaking to people in the wider Carleton Road area.

And Coun Solloway has been corresponding with Hamer Boot senior development surveyor of Henry Boot Developments Ltd.

Mr Boot told him: "We have eventually agreed the scope of the design work that is required on the Carleton Road / Carleton New Road junction and I have authorised my accounts department to release the funds for this. The funds should be received by NYCC in the next day or two at the latest."

He said he had authorised £7,400 which was an early release of the first part of their highways contribution.

Coun Solloway said: "I'm very grateful to Henry Boot for supporting my request for an early release. As Hamer Boot said this is a useful starting point for North Yorkshire County Council. Let's hope they now get on with the consultation."

Carleton Road is expected to have to take an extra 1,000 vehicles a day when the new development is completed and nearby residents claim it could not cope with the pressure especially when it was narrowed by parked cars.

The road was already dangerous to cross especially because of its unusual pavement layout when approaching the Keighley Road junction.

A spokesman for North Yorkshire County Council said: “ We are pleased that the developer has agreed to release money to enable an engineering design to be drawn up for a consultation on Carleton Road improvements. Our consultants will have the capacity in December to draw up the design for consultation early in 2017.”