KEIGHLEY town councillors are due to consider whether they should temporarily close the police and forensic science museum in Keighley Civic Centre.

Councillor Peter Corkindale, chairman of the town council's civic centre committee, said this measure was needed to give the council time to work out whether it has the legal authority to run such an attraction.

He confirmed that the town council had approached Bradford Council to see if the district authority would be prepared to take over the museum then allow Keighley Town Council to run it under delegated powers. However, he said it was now unlikely that this would go ahead.

A spokesman for Bradford Council, said: “The council is not in a position to take on additional visitor attractions given budget constraints.

“We are an accredited museum service and as such have to go through a rigorous examination process.

"We can’t take on other visitor attractions if they are not equally accredited. It could jeopardise the standing and therefore funding ability of our other museums.

“There is already another police museum in the district. We would happily broker a meeting between the two museums to see if a sustainable partnership can be formed.”

Keighley Town Council has already voted to close a shop, cafe and bar in the North Street civic centre, after its clerk Tom Ferry warned that he had received no clear guidance on whether the council had a right to trade.

A statement on the town council website reads: “The museum tours in the civic centre are temporarily unavailable from March 30 2015.

“We apologise for any inconvenience and will advise any changes when known. We thank you for your understanding.”

Cllr Corkindale said: "There are several possible options. One is having the museum run by a friends group, and another is managing it via a charitable organisation.

"Under the 1964 Public Libraries and Museums Act we don't have the power to fund a museum of any description.

"But the museum that we have is, in fact, self-funding, so in my view the 1964 act shouldn't apply.

"However, we do need to have some clarity on that, and the matter must be examined properly to see what is the best way forward."

Cllr Corkindale noted that Keighley Town Council was not the only authority in this situation, arguing that legislation has failed to keep pace with a Government agenda promoting the management of community assets by small community organisations.

"We ask one lawyer for advice and we get one answer, we ask another lawyer and we get a completely different answer," he said. "There is a lot of confusion."

Keighley Town Council's next full, monthly meeting, is on Thursday April 9.