RECENT violent incidents in Keighley and the furious reaction they have provoked have prompted an Utley resident to take action to stave off the threat of community conflict.

Former soldier Paul Skinner has launched a new Facebook page called Keighley Community Through Unity.

He said he was responding to the anger and upset generated by attacks on the fire service and members of the public during the bonfire period and the mugging of army veteran George Gill in Lund Park.

Mr Skinner said his new page will aim to forge friendship and community solidarity, adding he had managed to create constructive dialogue when he set up a Facebook page focusing on the Falkland Islands two years ago.

Mr Skinner, 52, who is now a bank worker, said he wanted his new Facebook page to develop into something very different from the bad-tempered exchanges on some other Keighley-related pages.

“The intention is to provide a moderated forum for people in town to be able to fix some of the problems rather than just argue about them,” he said.

“Everyone is criticising Keighley and nobody seems to have a good word to say about it.

“These tensions aren’t being caused by any particular group. There are good and bad people throughout Keighley, and it doesn’t matter which side of town they live on.

“It is sad that following on from what has happened recently you now have people talking about ‘revenge’. I don’t want to see decent people being hurt because of that, decent people who might just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“I’m concerned things will escalate to a point where we can’t go back and we have trouble between communities, which would be devastating for the town and its reputation.”

The new page was launched at the weekend. People wanting to be part of the group need to ask to join via Facebook. Mr Skinner hopes it could also be used to help arrange social events to bring people together.

“We’ve always had a good tradition of community groups in Keighley, going back to Victorian times, and it would be nice to have that back again instead of just people sitting at home playing computer games,” he added.

“It is brilliant what you can do with social media, but it can be bad if it’s not used in the right way. These other very well-subscribed Facebook pages, where people end up getting into personal slanging matches with each other, is something I want to avoid.”

lWhat do you think? We welcome letters on this or any other subject. E-mail richard.parker@keighleynews.co.uk or write to the Keighley News, 80-86 North Street, Keighley BD21 3AG.