A DRIVER has been cleared of dangerous driving by attempting to cross the canal swing bridge at Kildwick when the barriers were coming down.

Self employed joiner, John Lonsdale, 61, collided with the exit barrier of the canal bridge, catching the roof rack of his Mercedes Vito van and causing £1,388 damage to the barrier, heard Skipton Magistrates Court.

Witness, Kay Atkinson, who had hired a narrow boat for the day, told the court how she had been in the process of setting off the closure procedure after going to the assistance of another canal user who had not done it before.

She said she had checked for road users and had started the procedure when a 'car' had come

past her 'fast and close', crossed the bridge and hit the barrier.

But, Mr Lonsdale told the court he was not a risk taker in driving and in all matters of life, and that no warning lights were showing when he approached the bridge.

He said the barrier had started coming down when he was three-quarters of the way across and that the 'dangling bits' had caught with the driver's side of his roof rack.

He had stopped briefly, had seen that the damaged barrier was out of harm's way before driving to Cross Hills Police Station to report what had happened.

The police station was closed, at about 4. 45pm on August 19 last year, so he had driven home to Boundary Avenue, Sutton-in-Craven, where he had reported it on the non-emergency 101 police number.

Defending, John Mewies, said the prosecution had painted Mr Lonsdale out to be a 'kamikaze' driver 'hell bent' on beating the barrier at all cost.

And he asked magistrates whether his client had given the impression he was the type of person capable of taking such a risk.

Mr Mewies said the only person who had given any evidence of speed was Miss Atkinson, who had been otherwise engaged at the time showing someone else how to operate the bridge closure procedure.

The other witness, Stuart Macbeth, had given written evidence that he had no idea how the bridge was operated, said Mr Mewies.

"Miss Atkinson was obsessed, and rightly so, with showing the hapless Mr Macbeth how to operate the bridge. If she had been on her own, she may well have paid more attention," he said.

Magistrates said that the barriers were not fully automated and so subject to potential operator error. They also found Miss Atkinson's recollection of events to be 'imperfect' while they found Mr Lonsdale to be a credible witness.