Keighley people have given a massive thumbs up to plans for their own town council.

As votes were counted today (Friday) it soon became clear that there had been a huge YES vote, but the size of the victory ws overwhelming.

A total of 16,860 people voted YES with just 1,221 against and 34 spoilt papers.

The turnout of 47.55 per cent of those entitled to vote in the referendum was bigger than at the General Election.

FULL REPORT and reaction in next week's Keighley News

A deluge of ballot papers has been returned in the past week as Keighley braces itself for the result of the town council referendum.

Thousands of voting slips are boxed up waiting to be checked and counted at Victoria Hall, Keighley, this morning.

By lunchtime today the result should be known, and it will be posted straight on to our web site at www.keighleynews. co.uk.

Ballot papers were mailed three weeks ago to the area's 38,093 electors asking if they support the proposals to establish a town council, which would cover large chunks of Keighley and the Worth Valley not represented by a parish council.

By last week several thousand had been returned to Bradford Council's elections unit, but many more were still outstanding.

Now - following an eleventh-hour plea in the Keighley News for the public to ensure its voice was heard - slips have been arriving by the sack-load.

The referendum - the first of its kind ever to be held locally - follows the presentation to Bradford Council in April of a 5,188-name petition by Keighley Voice, the group established to campaign for a town council.

The whole debate was first sparked by an exchange of letters in this newspaper between Aireworth campaigner Brian Hudson and Cllr Martin Leathley.

A public meeting was called chaired by KN editor Malcolm Hoddy.

As a result a steering group was formed and teams set out to collect the required about of signatures to call for the unique referendum The campaign attracted all-party support.

A report in the wake of today's result will go before a meeting of Keighley Area Panel on August 15.

The final decision on forming a town council will rest with the Government.