Thousands of new homes planned for rural areas of the Bradford district will put even greater pressure on a stretched fire service, a Bradford councillor has warned.

Councillor Adrian Naylor (Ind, Craven) has written to Jim Butters, Bradford district commander for the fire service, calling for more emergency cover ahead of plans for a major expansion of new homes in Keighley, Silsden, Steeton and Eastburn.

Bradford Council has identified that more than 7,500 new houses need to be built in the area for the region's rapidly-growing population in its Local Development Framework (LDF) plans. “This could potentially double the number of houses and is going to place an additional burden on the infrastructure,” said Coun Naylor.

One of Silsden's two fire crews was cut following last year’s review, meaning crews from other areas would need to respond if its one remaining crew was unavailable.

Coun Naylor said out-of-area crews could also pose serious problems because they would not know addresses in rural areas.

However, in an e-mailed response to Coun Naylor, Mr Butters said: “While we continually monitor new developments, it is difficult to foresee an increase in operational resources for the Silsden area.” He said new homes would be less of a fire risk because of more fire-resistant materials.