Silsden’s mayor claims British Waterways is endangering birds.

Councillor Liz Trainor said she had nursed between 20 and 30 ducks that had become stuck in fencing put up to stop people falling down holes on the canal towpath, next to Keighley Road.

She said one hole had been there for six years.

Cllr Trainor said: “Silsden’s towpath is the most neglected out of the whole of the Leeds-Liverpool Canal stretch.

“It is absolutely outrageous that one of these holes has been there for six years with orange tape around it and no one has come to fix it.

“The other has been there for one year — in August workmen came out to tape it up and said they would be back in three weeks to fix it but they never did.

“Ducks and geese try to climb out of the lowest point of the towpath, which is where one of the holes is, and they become stuck in the netting.

“Recently three kids brought a duck to me that was barely breathing — they had found it in the netting and it must have been struggling for hours tangled up.

“I wrapped it up warm and tried to feed it but when I went back to it later it had died. Now I have the children coming back later to see how it is and I don’t know what I am going to tell them.”

The general manager for British Waterways Yorkshire, Lawrence Morgan, said the organisation was committed to carrying out essential works in other areas of the region.

He said it would look at options to repair the site, close to Bridge 191 in Silsden, “once resources and funding were available”.

He said: “With regards to towpath erosion close to Bridge 191 in Silsden, a barrier of Netlon fencing has been put up to keep people away from the area affected.

“We have not been made aware of any other incidents where this type of fencing has caused difficulties to birds but would wish to be informed of any future incidents.

“In Yorkshire, British Waterways has an ongoing programme of repair and maintenance for almost 300 miles of waterways and many structures.

“The sheer scale of the network, combined with our limited resources, means we have to focus on key risks and priorities.”

Cllr Trainor added she was even more worried about the fencing injuring ducks and geese now it was the season for their offspring to hatch.