Keighley people are the fifth highest spenders on the National Lottery.

A massive £69 million has gone out of the town over the past five years in sales of lottery tickets.

Keighley folk have spent almost twice the national average in a bid to drag themselves out of the poverty trap.

But under a tenth of the money spent has come back to the Keighley area for good causes, according to new figures.

Just £6.7 million has been given in grants since the lottery started in 1995, £12 million less than Keighley's fair share based on the amount spent by local people.

The shock figures were revealed this week in a national survey which showed that deprived areas like Keighley spend more but receive less than affluent areas.

The survey, based on figures from lottery operator Camelot, led to renewed claims that the lottery is a "tax on the poor".

The figures were worked out on a constituency basis, lumping Ilkley with Keighley, and revealed an average spend of £38 million over five years.

Residents of central Leeds and Doncaster spent around a million pounds more than Keighley, Derby South clocked in at £88 million and Sunderland North topped the poll with £143 million.

Under rules set for Camelot, 28p out of every £1 ticket goes to the government to be shared among six good causes.

Some parts of Bradford district received even less money back, with Bradford South, which spent £39.2 million, winning just £2.3 million in grants.

A spokesman for Camelot stressed that it was not responsible for distributing grants.

Spending decisions are made by the Yorkshire and Humberside Charities Board, the Sports Council, Arts Council, Heritage Fund, Millennium Award and Awards For All.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.