NEW attempts are being made to sell the derelict former Royal British Legion headquarters in Keighley town centre.

The charity’s national bosses have put the two-storey terraced building in Lord Street back on the market with a new estate agency.

Legion members have not met in the premises since 2012 when it was branded unsafe and in need of thousands of pounds of repairs.

The building could now prove more attractive to buyers because it lies opposite the recently-demolished former Keighley College building on North Street.

A Royal British Legion spokesman this week: “The property at Lord Street has been empty and boarded-up for the last five years. It has not been used as a Legion facility for several years.

“It has been on the market for some time now but with no luck selling it so far. We are actively trying to sell it on, and a new agency board went up this week.”

Legion members moved out of the building in 2012 following an acrimonious row over efforts to fund vital refurbishment.

Estimated renovation costs were put as high as £50,000, and despite some success with local fundraising, disagreements led to the resignation of the chairman.

Since then Legion members have met monthly at the New Variety Club in Russell Street.

Jacqui McGinnis, secretary of the Royal British Legion in Keighley, this week said the 2012 decision to move out had not been popular but there was no choice.

She said: “It was not safe, and it wasn’t big enough to hold meetings. It was going to cost more for repairs than the value of the building."

Mrs McGinnis said the Legion still had a strong presence in Keighley, organising the annual Poppy Appeal which last year raised £38,000.

But she admitted local membership had declined in recent years, adding: “It’s quiet at the moment, it’s very difficult to recruit younger people.”

Mrs McGinnis hoped the charity’s profile would be raised by next year’s ‘Great Pilgrimage’ which will mark the 90th anniversary of the original Great Pilgrimage, when First World War widows and wounded marched to Belgium and France.

Each Royal British Legion branch across the UK has been invited to send a wreath bearer and a standard bearer, and one Keighley member has already signed up.

All local people are welcome to join the Legion and attend meetings on the third Wednesday of every month at 7.30pm in the New Variety Club.