A councillor claims much-needed repairs to Keighley footpaths are being needlessly delayed.

Andrew Mallinson said a decision on where to spend this year’s local highways maintenance budget had been put back by at least four months.

He said it would be the end of January at the earliest before decisions could be made, leaving little more than eight weeks to carry out repair work.

Keighley Area Committee was first presented with a shortlist of potential minor repair schemes – such as uneven pavements and potholed roads – last September.

The committee has £27,000 in this financial year but the shortlist – taken from a longer list of councillors’ suggestions – totals £52,500.

The committee called for further research in September to ensure the money was spent on schemes providing the most benefit for local people.

Chairman Steve Pullen also agreed to go on a fact-finding walkabout with a Bradford Council traffic engineer, but as this is yet to take place, a decision cannot be made until the next area committee meeting on January 24.

He added: “Items like this are relatively small – they can’t wait until 2013 to be done.”

Coun Mallinson said Bradford Council was asking area committees to take on responsibility for issues such as youth work, parks, road safety, road repairs and street cleaning.

He added: “It’s a big concern to me that we’re looking at getting major services devolved and the area committee can’t even get the potholes sorted.”

Coun Pullen said he had twice met principal highways engineer, Keith Escritt, to discuss potential sites, and he hopes to carry out the research trip before the January 24 meeting.

He said: “We need to discuss what our priorities are going to be because, quite honestly, there isn’t enough money.

“I want to ensure the small amount of money we’ve got is spent on repairs that most need doing.”