The district's army of street wardens has been served with redundancy notices by Bradford Council, it was revealed today.

The move flies in the face of opposition from traders and shoppers in Bradford and Keighley, where the wardens have been a popular presence in the fight against crime.

Since the threat to the wardens' future was first revealed in March, 2007, a total of 6,000 people have signed two separate petitions in a bid to stop the warden service being dismantled.

The Council said Government funding for the wardens would run out at the end of the financial year, but added that it had not yet finalised its own budget.

Union bosses said negotiations over the future of the service would continue into the new year and speculated some of the street wardens could be given jobs as traffic wardens if the Council takes over responsibility from the police.

A Council spokesman said: "All we can say at the moment is that we are discussing the issue with the police. The matter will be discussed at Keighley Area Committee in January and at the Council's executive meeting in February."

The axe has been hanging over the wardens since March 2007 when the Council's ruling Conservative group cut their £350,000 funding from the 2007/08 budget.

Amid mounting pressure, the Council later gave the wardens a one-year- reprieve to allow a "comprehensive" review of Bradford's uniformed services to be carried out.

Now the future of the warden service looks gloomier than ever, according to chief petitioner Kate Linford, manager of the Wharf jewellers, in Ivegate, Bradford.

She said: "There's no future for the wardens because they have all been given their notice. The Council promised this review, but they were never going to keep them.

"We have had no feedback from handing our petition in. The whole situation is disgusting. The wardens have done a superb job and this is just what Bradford doesn't need."

Terry Patton, of the GMB union, said: "They were given their notice before Christmas and it looks like the warden service is going to be disbanded.

"They are serving their 90-day notice period but we are still negotiating and there will be meetings in the new year."

The petition in Bradford was signed by 4,000 shoppers and traders, while a similar document in Keighley attracted 2,000 signatures.

Last week, Bradford Council leader Kris Hopkins said he could not promise the wardens would remain, as Government funding was due to end in March.

He said any replacement service must develop the same level of public confidence and continue the communication between traders and police.

He said: "I'm staying open minded. I'm optimistic we might be able to find a solution."

Keighley Mayor, Councillor Brian Hudson, said the wardens provided an excellent service for people in the town.