KEIGHLEY Town Council's financial officer has warned councillors they are breaching their own financial regulations by agreeing to continue to fund the loss-making civic centre.

In a letter to the council, Safia Kauser, its responsible finance officer, says the decision last month to continue trading in Keighley Civic Centre's cafe, bar and police museum means it will continue incurring losses, which will eat into council reserves.

She adds: "The RFO has a duty to advise the council of the financial position in accordance with all acts, regulations and proper accounting practices.

"Should the council continue to incur expenditure on trading this will affect the level of the council reserves. To properly manage this risk, it's advisable that there is no further expenditure approved for civic centre trading.

"This council is falling short of the accounting and governance standards expected of councils, and it is anticipated that the council may fail its external audit for year end 2015."

The advice has led one town councillor to call for the council to reverse its decision to continue funding the civic centre.

Councillor Amjid Ahmed said: "The civic centre committee has not been keeping an eye on its income and expenditure and their expenditure outweighs their income.

"The report from our RFO has highlighted incompetence by this committee. What kind of people are on this council who are happy to break their own financial regulations?

"After obtaining legal advice from the National Association of Local Councils and Yorkshire Local Councils Association we were advised that we have no power to run a museum.

"I like to believe all Keighley town councillors are professionals, so if there is a feeling that we're doing things wrong we need to be proactive. If that means closing something down while we take advice, so be it."