An outcry has blown up over plans to create a holy site for Hindus and Sikhs to scatter ashes at Apperley Bridge.

Residents in the beauty spot fear that turning the River Aire into something akin to the Ganges in India will shatter their peace. And Idle ward councillors have been inundated with worried callers.

The Telegraph & Argus reported in later editions on Tuesday that Hindu and Sikh communities had asked Bradford Council to find a place for them to scatter ashes of their loved ones. Many cannot afford to go to the sacred River Ganges or Punjab to perform the ceremony and would prefer to have somewhere closer to home.

The Council will have to consult the Environment Agency before any decision is made.

Jane Glaister, Bradford Council's arts, heritage and leisure director, said they are looking at "other options", but only one site is being considered.

Councillor Ann Ozolins (Idle, Lib Dem) has fielded a dozen calls from residents worried about large funeral parties gathering on the water's edge.

She said: "They are not against the scheme yet but are really upset that they have not been consulted."

Liberal Democrat leader Coun-cillor Jeanette Sunderland (Idle, Lib Dem) was furious that not even Ian Stewart, the Chief Executive of Bradford Council, knew who is dealing with the plan.

"The Council's left hand does not appear to know what its right hand is doing," she said. "I am very critical of the Council and the chief executive. I have been flooded with queries and I know nothing about it, which is not good enough.

"People are bemused by the idea. Where will all these people park? There are no facilities, the Council pulled down the toilets years ago."

The Hindu and Sikh communities already have facilities for scattering ashes from a platform set up in the grounds of Kirskall Abbey at Leeds nine years ago.

But the 6,000-strong Hindu community of Bradford argues that there should be a place in the district because the Kirkstall location is potentially dangerous.

Councillor Anne Hawksworth, who holds the portfolio for the environment, believes the Kirk-stall site is satisfactory and "no distance at all".

"Apperley Bridge is inappropriate for many reasons, including parking, the massive number of people descending and the peace of residents," she said.

She stressed that no decision has been made on the plan and that public consultation will take place.

Officially the River Aire is a Grade C watercourse, which is classed as "fair". Anglers catch bream, pike and carp in its waters.