A Keighley councillor has seen at first hand the effects of genocide.

Adrian Farley visited Bosnia to find out about the massacre in the city of Srebrenica in 1995.

He explored battle-scarred ruins, toured burial sites and visited the Srebrenica Genocide Memorial.

Coun Farley, who represents Keighley West ward on Bradford Council, was part of a party of 24 young leaders from the UK.

They were guests of the campaign group Remembering Srebrenica, and had been chosen from 200 people nominated by councils and other organisations. The aim was to learn more about the genocide and the consequences of hatred.

Coun Farley said what happened in Srebrenica, when an estimated 8,000 people were murdered, was horrific.

He added: “The idea of the trip was we, as younger leaders, could have an insight into the effects of conflict.

“Quite often when you hear about conflict in other countries, you’re detached from it, but walking around Sarajevo and Srebrenica, you see a lot of it has been destroyed.”

After a visit to a site where the bodies of genocide victims had been stored, he said “the smell in that place will live with me forever”.

Despite the evidence of war, Coun Farley’s main impressions had been how beautiful the country is and the friendliness of its people.

He and the other delegates met with prominent figures in Bosnia, including the Grand Mufti His Eminence Husein Kavazovic, culture minister Salmir Kaplan and the British ambassador Nigel Casey.