TOWN councillors in Keighley have caused outrage in Ilkley by suggesting that the town should be split into two separate electoral wards in the forthcoming review of electoral boundaries.

If the Government's Boundary Commission accepts the proposal, Addingham would move from the Craven ward into the Ilkley ward and Ben Rhydding would be amalgamated with Burley-in-Wharfedale to form a new electoral ward.

At a parish council meeting at Ilkley Town Hall this week, parish and district councillor Anne Hawkesworth said: "I think this is an absolutely outrageous and stupid idea - if there is an area within Bradford district which is one definite community, it is quite clearly Ilkley."

Parish council chairman Michael Gibbons said: "I think they (Keighley Town Council) should concentrate on their own affairs and stop meddling in other people's."

Coun Hawkesworth later explained that there would need to be changes to Bradford's electoral wards because some of them had too many electors compared to others.

She said that the Boundary Commission wanted to hear from parish, town and district councils in the area what changes should be made so they could be drawn up and implemented in two year's time.

According to Coun Hawkesworth, all parties on Bradford Council had agreed that there should be a total of 30 wards in the district with an average of 11,600 electors, and 90 councillors representing them.

But because of differences caused by political allegiance, Bradford Council as a whole could not agree what changes should be made. Instead the three main political parties (Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat), will submit their own proposals for change.

Meanwhile, Keighley's new Town Council, which prides itself on being non-political, has made its own recommendations to the Commission, which includes splitting Ilkley between two wards.

At a meeting this week, Coun Gibbons condemned the move. He said: "What has it got to do with them? Parish and town councillors usually restrict their views to their own patch."

Later, Rombalds Conservative councillor Chris Greaves said that the new ward Keighley Town Council wanted to create from Ben Rhydding and Burley would be far too small.

He said: "They should do a course on basic maths - it is completely crackers. I don't know why they are interfering with something that has nothing to do with them. They are coming out with something that is complete nonsense and would not work."

But the chairman of Addingham Parish Council, Gordon Campbell, said that the idea would have to be discussed by members before it was rejected out of hand.

"The community is closer to Ilkley than Silsden. If it (the proposal) came from Keighley we would have another look at it," said Coun Campbell.

He added: "It is such a big decision we would have to study the statistics and the social affect it would have on Addingham village.

"I would not be prepared to lead Addingham out of Craven unless I was certain it was for the good of the village."

The chairman of Keighley Town Council, Martin Leathley, defended the idea on logical and community grounds.

He said that Rombalds - which includes Burley-in-Wharfedale, Menston and parts of Shipley - and Craven wards were not logical entities because they straddled both the Wharfe and Aire Valleys.

"We felt that Silsden and Steeton should go in with Keighley and Addingham should go in with Ilkley.

"It wasn't a slight on the people of Ilkley, it was a logical, geographical proposal. We aren't a political council and we have done it on the interests of the community and to try to make wards identifiable communities."

But after this week's meeting, Coun Hawkesworth condemned the idea as 'barmy'. She said that if Addingham was removed from Craven Ward, it would be left with too few voters to comply with Boundary Commission guidelines.

She said that the move by Keighley Town Council was an attempt to avoid having to take in parts of Shipley to make up the electoral numbers.