The surveys will be carried out in the town as well as Aireborough, Otley and Pool area to measure the number of vehicles using the local road network.

The surveys, will which will take place until Thursday, May 22, also involve road side interviews with motorists which will collect information such as the details of their journey, whether they car share or if they use facilities such as pay and display car parks.

Council contractors will be stopping vehicles, including HGVs, with the help of West Yorkshire Police* in clearly signposted areas between the hours of 7am and 7pm.

The survey will either be carried out in a couple of minutes at the side of the road, or a questionnaire, complete with freepost address, will be given to the driver to be filled in and returned at a later date.

The travel information will then be fed into a computer model which will predicts how the traffic flows may change as a result of alterations to the surrounding road network.

Councillor Andrew Carter, executive board member responsible for transport, said:
"This survey will provide important information which will allow us to plan for the future development of the city's road and transport networks.

"As the airport expands and there is a greater volume of traffic accessing the north west of Leeds, we need to ensure that the roads are able to handle the extra demand.

"We want to improve the highway network and this information will allow us to do so. There may be minor delays in the short term, but they will be far outweighed by the benefits in the future.

"All information will be taken in the strictest confidence and I hope that people will spare just a few minutes to help our officers."

The surveys are being carried out by Leeds City Council's transport strategy team. As well as assessing the potential impact of improved access to Leeds Bradford International Airport, the results will also be taken into consideration for other potential highway schemes in the area.