Furious Cougar fans have demanded a fair deal from Bradford Council after the local authority agreed to pay £4.6 million to the Bulls.

Independent Supporters Club spokesman Andy Johnson demanded help for the Keighley Club after council officials agreed to buy out a £300,000-a-year deal with the one-off payment - and an agreement to let the club have Odsal Stadium at a nominal rent for 150 years.

"The council has a moral obligation to treat all its ratepayers equally, and it is clear they are subsidising the Bulls to the tune of hundreds of thousands of pounds a year, but refused to help the Keighley club when it was in trouble last year," Mr Johnson said.

The multi-million pound payment bought out a 1986 agreement which had 17 years to run. Council chief executive Ian Stewart said the lump sum - to be paid over two years - would allow the Bulls to improve Odsal following the collapse of development schemes involving private developers.

Now KISA has called on all Cougar fans to attend a 'Fans Forum' meeting at the club tonight (Friday) to make their feeelings clear.

Mr Johnson added: "We recognise that the deal has tied the hands of the council, and we have said for years that the Bulls were getting unfair treatment. But we feel the Council has a moral duty to treat its ratepayers equally and look to help the Cougars develop their facilities.

"We are sick and tired of seeing Keighley rates being used to fund another team," he said.

Cougar Chairman Neil Spencer, who has been busy building bridges with the council, said he had no compaints about the payment. "If you have an agreement you have to honour it," he said. "The Council is helping us and I get on very well with the chief executive Ian Stewart.

"I can understand the supporters getting upset about this, but it is something which was already there."