Documents charting hundreds of years of Bradford's history could be moved out of the district to Leeds or Wakefield.

Parish records dating back to the 12th century, The Charter of Bradford granted by Queen Victoria and Charlotte Bronte's name in a marriage register are among the gems which could be shifted to a centralised archive store.

Outraged residents have described the proposals by the West Yorkshire Archive Service as the "the pillaging of Bradford's heritage".

The service plans to build a new centre in either Leeds or Wakefield centralising the archives of the five West Yorkshire districts.

It will involve transferring hundreds of thousands of historical documents out of the city.

Among the archives is the Charter of Bradford granted in 1847 by Queen Victoria which created the borough and allowed its first mayor and council.

Items also include parish records, some of which date back to the 1100s.

Local historian Graham Hall described the plans as an outrage.

"Bradford's important historic archives should be within our city," he said. "We cannot allow our vitally important past to be stolen from under our feet."

Former Lord Mayor CounStanley King (Con, Heaton) added: "The idea that people would have to travel to Leeds to look at items documenting our heritage is unbelievable."

Bradford Council leader Coun Margaret Eaton also expressed her concern at the plans. She said: "The whole point of archives is that they should be accessible to local people."

Councillors representing Bradford Council on the West Yorkshire Joint Services Committee have given their permission for the plans to be investigated after telling the committee there was no suitable site in Bradford to house the new centre.

The archive service now plans to lodge a £20 million bid with the Lottery Heritage Fund in December to finance the scheme.

Executive member for the Environment at Bradford Council, Councillor Anne Hawkesworth, also said she was unhappy with the proposals.

But Sylvia Thomas, head of the West Yorkshire Archive Service, said: "We are looking at a new home in Leeds or Wakefield because these are the only two authorities who are able to offer us a site.

"At the moment we have offices in all five of the districts. All of them are full up and many are in need of restoration because they are in poor condition."

Councillor Michael Walls (Con, Queensbury), a member of the West Yorkshire Joint Services Committee, said it was unlikely that funding could be found for necessary upgrades to the archive's current home on Canal Road.

It was possible that a microfilm facility could later be set up in Bradford where people could view documents copied on to microfilm and that many of the archives would also be made available on the internet.

"I can understand why people would be against these plans but we are looking at them as the way forward," he said.

"At the moment people have to make an appointment to visit the archive and the opening hours are severely restricted.

"With a new centre I believe local people would have better access than they have now."