A new chairman was due to be elected to Silsden parish council last night.

It follows last month's fiasco when Paul Bromley was 'ousted' a week after being elected - because he failed to sign a piece of paper.

His election was declared 'illegal' as he did not sign a formal declaration of office as chairman of Silsden parish council.

The row flared after last month's AGM ended in chaos after just five minutes.

The collapse happened after Cllr Lawrence Walton raised a point of order over the election of new chairman Cllr Bromley and vice-chairman Ann Har-vison.

Cllr Bromley was elected by the casting vote of the outgoing chairman Michael Anderson.

Arguments developed as an angry Cllr Walton challenged the legality of the vote which brought Cllr Bromley to the chair.

He anounced that he had consulted the Yorkshire Local Councils' Association and that neither Cllr Bromley nor previous chairman Michael Ander-son had signed a declaration of acceptance of office.

He said because of that the election was invalid.

Cllr Walton demanded the election be run again, claiming: "Mr Anderson never signed a declaration and so he did not have the power to use his casting vote to appoint Mr Brom-ley."

In fact, Cllr Anderson did sign a declaration when he took up the chairman's position in 1995.

Cllr Walton's claims infuriated other councillors who called them 'sour grapes' because he was not elected chairman himself in last month's vote.

Parish clerk Joanne Conway took advice from the Yorkshire Local Councils' Association and officials had informed her Cllr Bromley was correctly elected chairman for 1998/99.

But because he failed to sign a declaration of acceptance of office Cllr Bromley ceased to be chairman at the end of that meeting.

Mrs Conway says: "As Mr Bromley was chairman for the duration of the June meeting Cllr Harvison was correctly elected as vice-chairman.

"She was not required to sign a declaration and remains validly elected as vice-chairman."

Cllr Harvison was due to chair last night's meeting in the council chamber at the town hall until the new chairman is elected.

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