Plans to resolve issues at the country's highest beach

At a recent meeting of Todmorden Town Council, a number of options were discussed in an effort to safeguard residents and to control the traffic on Lumbutts Road.

Last year the dam, often said to be Britain’s highest beach, attracted huge numbers of tourists in the summer to bask in sunshine.

But this caused frustration among villagers and businesses, with complaints about litter and inconsiderate parking.

Todmorden Information Centre and Calderdale Council’s tourism department have co-ordinated information about the area, emphasising the lack of parking and facilities.

There are plans to better publicise the bus timetable and encourage visitors to park in Todmorden and use public transport to and from the area to prevent traffic congestion on Lumbutts Road.

A spokesperson for the council said: “A main concern for residents has been safety. Local residents were worried emergency vehicles would not be able to pass along Lumbutts Road on busy weekends when cars were parked on both sides of the narrow road.

“Stephen Lee, head of highways at Calderdale Council, attended a previous round table meeting before Christmas where the possibility of Calderdale’s highways department installing single yellow lines at the difficult bends on Lumbutts Road was mentioned.

“The possibility of yellow lines on either side of the road at intervals so that some safe, but limited, parking would still be available was also discussed.

“The town council development committee is still waiting for more information from Calderdale Council’s highways department in relation to this.”

To tackle the issue of litter that was a major problem last summer, Calderdale’s Safer Cleaner Greener team is investigating putting litter bags at the parking area on Lumbutts Road and is considering installing a refuse bin.

The possibility of a noticeboard with information about the area of Special Scientific Interest surrounding the dam, as well as the Countryside Code, was also discussed at the meeting.

Another meeting will be held later this month.