ANGLERS have claimed they could be put in danger if the River Wharfe is fenced off.

Otley Angling Club, which rents the fishing rights for the river from Otley Bridge to the White Bridge and beyond - the whole of the distance Leeds City Council wants to fence - is furious it has not been consulted over the plans for Wharfemeadows Park.

Club secretary, Tim Hendry, said because of the speed the river rises anglers could be caught on the wrong side of the fence.

"A couple of weeks ago the river rose three feet in 20 minutes. How could a fence protect us when we would be on the other side of it.

"There would need to be gates every few feet and the fence would have to be a distance away from the river bank. It is just sheer madness."

Mr Hendry, club secretary for ten years, said he had been inundated with calls from members furious about the plans.

He added: "We haven't been consulted at all. We rent the whole length of the river they are talking about yet they've not had the decency to contact us.

"The stretch from the weir to the children''s play area is dangerous, but not the rest of it. All people will do is go in the river beyond the White Bridge where it is really dangerous and further away from any help."

And he added if the fence did go up, it would spell the end of any hope that the pleasure boats would ever return to the river at Otley.

"We can forget about the boats, they will never return now. It's just unbelievable. If we had to undergo a risk assessment, we would never go fishing."

Councillor John Eveleigh told Monday's Otley Town Council Executive Committee that plans by Leeds City Council to erect a fence on safety grounds were unnecessary and completely over the top.

He called for wider consultation in the town, including with the Chamber of Trade, and urged the city council to reconsider.

"I have been inundated by people stopping me about this issue. Clearly it has provoked a great sense of unease that the city council can contemplate such a thing for the park.

"I do believe that much wider consultation needs to take place. It does not give me a great deal of confidence that consultation will just take place with our ward councillors.

"The park is one of the greatest attractions in our town and clearly no consideration has been given to the people who go there."

Coun Eveleigh added: "This is health and safety gone beserk. Most people realise that the river is unsafe in certain parts, but to fence off the whole river is clear madness.

"There are many more deaths on the roads, are we going to have to fence off all the roads."