A PETITION calling for Keighley's tip to be kept open has been submitted to Bradford Council.

The household waste recycling centre at Royd Ings Avenue is earmarked for closure as part of the council's budget proposals.

Widespread opposition to the move has been voiced in the town.

The petition was organised by Keighley Conservative MP Robbie Moore, who said it had been signed by more than 1,500 people and would be presented at a full council meeting this month.

He says: "If Labour-run Bradford Council can find hundreds of thousands of pounds for vanity projects in the city centre, then it has the capacity to U-turn on its foolish and incredibly short-sighted proposal to close Keighley’s tip.

"People across Keighley and the wider area are quite rightly infuriated by the plans. Closing the site would undoubtedly increase fly-tipping in the area and congestion at alternative sites and cut an essential service which Keighley residents and businesses are paying for through their council tax and business rates."

He adds that people can still sign a petition, at robbiemoore.org.uk/SaveOurTip.

Lead petitioner, Laura Kelly, says: "The plan to close the household waste recycling centre is another badly thought-out plan. The cost to the environment and council would be far greater than the savings."

And fellow petitioner Martin Crangle says: "It might not be glamorous but the tip is part of Keighley, used by residents to help recycle and remove waste. Not a single person I know is in favour of the closure."

But council leader, Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe, says services can't be maintained without Government funding.

She added: "Labour councillors have been very clear that they don’t want Government to impose any further cuts on our council budgets, but the current Government is deaf to this plea.

"Even the Conservative chair of the Local Government Association has said councils face a funding shortfall of £3.4 billion in 2023-24 and £4.5 billion in 2024-25 and has called on Government to deal with this crisis.

"The people of Keighley need their MP to speak up in Parliament about getting more funding in Keighley and the wider district. If the Government provides no money for services then councils cannot sustain these services. I want to see this MP take a stand against his Government’s austerity over the last 12 years, which has left us with the public service crisis we see in the newspaper headlines today."