Allotments in Ilkley will officially be back in the hands of the town’s councillors soon, almost 40 years after they were taken over by Bradford Council.

Ilkley Parish Council allotments project officer Councillor Andrew Walbank says Bradford Council has arranged with the Parish Councils solicitor for the formal transfer of the allotments, expected to take place in the next two to three months.

Bradford Council took over the allotments from the then-Ilkley Urban District Council in the local government reorganisation of 1974, but Ilkley Parish Council has always maintained it owned them.

The allotments were transferred back to the management of the Parish Council about five years ago, but the legal handover was not completed.

Councillor Heathcliffe Bowen said: “It’s about 40 years late.”