Health chiefs and Bradford councillors are poised to clash over whether to put fluoride in water.

The Water Bill amendment, which will have its second reading in Parliament on Monday, could take the power of veto on fluoridation away from water companies. If the legislation is passed, anti-fluoride Yorkshire Water would have to bow to a decision by the West Yorkshire Health Authority.

In Bradford, 59 per cent of children aged five have suffered tooth decay.

But Bradford Council has passed a resolution condemning mass medication as "unethical", and sent a letter to Prime Minister Tony Blair outlining its opposing stance to fluoridation. Calderdale Council has passed a similar resolution.

Councillor Martin Love (Green, Shipley West) believes that the vast majority of people are against fluoridation, but worries whether the West Yorkshire Health Authority would listen to their views.

"Tooth decay is caused by poor oral health and poor diet and sticking fluoride in water doesn't address either of those," he said. "What they are doing is making everybody take this medication.

"You are literally forcing it down people's throats.

"I hope Bradford Council can have some influence over the health authority. We are elected, so we are close to the opinions of the general public. The health authority are professionals but they are not elected.

"It is very debatable whether fluoride does any good at all. A York University survey found no difference between oral health in Gateshead which is fluoridated and Liverpool which isn't."

The Green Party says the chemical used in fluoridation is a toxic waste product, more poisonous than lead and marginally less toxic than arsenic.

But today Dr John Beal, West Yorkshire Health Authority's dental public health consultant, condemned Bradford Council for making its decision "without any medical or dental advice or evidence".

"Both children and adults benefit from fluoride and there are no harmful side effects," said Dr Beal, who qualified as a dentist 40 years ago and is a member of the British Fluoridation Society.

"Bradford is one of the worst places in the country for tooth decay in young children.

"I would hope that, when the health authority makes a decision on whether to go out for consultation, everybody would find out what the evidence actually says about the benefits and safety."

Bradford Council will wait until any legislation has been passed before making its next move.

A spokesman for its policy and executive support department said: "We cannot predict how the Council would respond in the consultation phase."

A West Yorkshire Strategic Health Authority spokesman said: "If the Water Bill was successful, any recommendations regarding the fluoridation of water would only be made after proper public consultation with the people of Yorkshire."

The Department of Health confirmed it had "no intention to fluoridate the whole country" and that no area would have the chemical added to water without public consultation to ensure there was local support.

In a Telegraph & Argus telephone poll last year, 92 per cent of callers rejected a proposal by regeneration body Trident to put fluoride in milk in some Bradford schools.