A councillor has hit out at people whom he has accused of “telling lies” online about Keighley Town Council.

Coun Michael Westerman, who is vice-chairman of the local authority’s watch and transport committee, said people posting comments on a Facebook page were insulting him and his colleagues.

Speaking during the council’s full March meeting last Thursday, he argued these critics were choosing to ignore the good work the town council is doing for the community.

“There’s a debate going on about this council on a website at the moment,” he said. “And one of the biggest lies of all is that we ‘do not care one jot for the people of Keighley’.

“The people of this town have asked for a bus service to go past the new police station – we’re talking to the bus operator and to Metro to try to achieve this.

“Also, people have asked us for Boxing Day and New Year’s Day bus services – again, we’re talking to Metro about this.

“People have come to us about the possibility of developing a new footpath leading all the way to the tarn, about a new neighbourhood ‘welcome’ sign for Bogthorn and about four additional grit bins at locations not served by Bradford District Council. We’re looking into all these different things, and have bought and installed the sign and provided the four extra bins.”

Coun Westerman added: “Every elector has the democratic right to disagree with us, but they don’t have the right to tell lies about us and insult us.”

The town council has recently come in for fierce criticism regarding its handling of the new Civic Centre in North Street, which is £74,000 in the red.

Some councillors and members of the public have also attacked last month’s decision to increase the town Council Tax precept by a record 72.6 per cent.

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