WORK began this week on a major project to tackle drainage problems at Keighley Cenotaph in Town Hall Square.

Keighley Town Council's allotments and landscapes committee had agreed to spend £5,000 on a scheme to stop water pooling on the base of the memorial.

The same project, which began on Monday, will also involve a clean-up of the prominent, historic monument.

Committee chairman, Councillor John Kirby, explained that flagstones at the base of the cenotaph had become uneven, which meant rain water was not running away into the gulleys at the edge of the base.

"Once the flagstones are levelled, we should have no more problems," he said.

"This is a centrepiece of Keighley and it's got to look good. We spent more than £9,000 on it last year.

"If we'd left it any longer, this could have cost us even more money. We wanted this done in time for this year's Remembrance Day and we couldn't afford to leave it any longer."

Cllr Kirby praised the company Aura Conservation, which is responsible for carrying out the work.