THREE household waste recycling centres in the Bradford district could be set for closure as Bradford Council is expected to make £40 million worth of cuts over the next three years.

The cuts will lead to closures of HWRCs in Ford Hill (Queensbury), Sugden End (Cross Roads) and Golden Butts (Ilkley).

Bradford Council currently operates eight HWRCs, spread across the district.

Full closure of three HWRCs in the Bradford district would allow the Council to save £900,000 in staffing, site maintenance costs and haulage costs.

Councillors in Ilkley, the Worth Valley and Queensbury have spoken out against the closures at the sites in their wards.

Councillor David Nunns (Cons, Ilkley) said: “We’re all against the closure. It’ll lead to fly-tipping.

“It is used a lot. Up to 400 cars a day visit the site in the summer.

“We’ll be fighting to keep it open.

“There is nowhere else around to go. The closest place would be driving 11 miles to Keighley, so that’s a 22-mile round trip.

“A lot of people would like to go to tips in Otley or Guiseley, but the problem is people from Ilkley can’t use them because they are part of Leeds City Council.”

Councillor Andrew Loy (Cons, Ilkley) said: “There will be a backlash against it.

“People will have to drive to Keighley. It’ll be an inconvenience to residents and will lead to fly-tipping and less recycling.

“We visited the site (Golden Butts) before Christmas and the staff were saying how busy it is there.

“They were talking about how big a loss it will be and the strength of feeling against it.”

Councillor Alex Mitchell (Lab, Queensbury) said: “Councillors across the country don't wish to cut services in their own communities, but the heartless approach of successive Conservative governments is forcing councils into this dire position.

“I am devastated to see local facilities like Ford Hill tip slated for closure, but residents must know that this is a direct consequence of the Conservatives' continued disregard for our district."

Councillor Rebecca Poulsen (Cons, Worth Valley) said: “The Council is closing all the tips in the outlying areas.

“For residents to get to the other ones is going to be quite a trek.

“They’re going to struggle with fly-tipping. There’s going to be a lot of it.

“This is going to have a knock-on effect. They’re not encouraging people to do the right thing when they can go to lay-by and dump it there.”

“It’s not a sensible proposal at all.”