THE family of an Ilkley man who was killed in a car accident 25 years ago on the A65 at Draughton are appealing for his roadside memorial to be left in peace.

Ever since Danny Stanfield died in August, 1994, his family have left flowers at the side of the road every two weeks.

Danny was a well known and popular builder in the area, and left behind a wife, child, his parents and two sisters.

Together, they have taken fresh flowers every two weeks, and also on special anniversaries, and at Christmas they leave a wreath.

The flowers have always been left undisturbed, but since March, they have regularly been stolen, causing the family, including his elderly parents, much distress.

His sister, Lesley Smith, who lives in Silsden, said she had been assured the flowers were not being removed by either Craven District Council or by North Yorkshire County Council and she had also checked with the nearest farmer.

The family left a letter explaining why the flowers were there, and appealing for them to be left alone, but still they are being removed.

“This has been so distressing, especially to my parents, my dad is 80 this year,” said Mrs Smith.

“We have a vase that my husband has made permanent and we also tend to the grass around the area.

“We attached a very polite letter to the the fence post to explain my brother died here 25 years ago and that’s why we leave flowers.

“It said ‘my parents are now elderly this is very distressing for them can you please stop removing the flowers in anticipation thank you’.

“But the letter was ignored and the flowers have continued to be taken.”

Mrs Smith also posted a message on her Facebook page appealing to whoever was responsible to stop.

“People were disgusted and commented they wondered why there were no flowers there,” she said.

“I decided to have a wreath made instead of leaving flowers. My husband wired it to the fence, but within a few days it was stolen.

“It is totally frustrating. It is causing upset and heartbreak, as we can’t imagine why anyone would do this.

“The pain of losing Danny was unimaginable - he was larger than life, everyone loved him.

“We are now approaching 25 years without him, and now this.”

The family took the reluctant step of reporting it to the police and have been comforted by their support and understanding of the distress caused to them all.

“I hope now the police are involved and the more the public are aware, that the person will stop or be caught,” Mrs Smith said.

A spokesman for North Yorkshire Police said: “We would be grateful for any information to help us track down the culprits to contact us on 101, and quoting the reference number: 12190133328.”