The Aire-Worth Reform Association, which is continuing to campaign for home-rule for Keighley and district, hopes 14,000 local people will take the plea to the Queen.

Dozens of claims of a right to local identity were handed out at Keighley gala on Saturday. The letters, each of which must be signed with individual names and addresses, are to be sent to Bucking-ham Palace in batches of 20.

The dozen points which are made range from rejection of Bradford as the seat of local government to the claim of the right to a ballot and local government review.

The association has already sent 14,000 postcards from people calling on the government for a boundary review. The reply was that there were no plans for a boundary review during the lifetime of the present parliament.

But the campaigners are not taking no for an answer and hope to motivate large numbers of people.

Chairman Brian Hudson, who tried unsuccessfully to win a seat at city hall in last month's local elections, bel-ieves the government will be forced to listen if the Queen asks them why she is receiving large numbers of letters from the area.

"We think the 14,000 people who asked for a review was sufficient," he says. "We don't want to fight with Bradford - we have to live as neighbours. But we are against the system."

The independence campaign gained renewed momentum last week when newly-elected Worth Valley Conservative councillor Kris Hopkins said he wanted to guage the strength of support for a referendum. He believes the local area needs a well thought out, action plan for homew rule.

economically viable and socially and culturally acceptable case if it is to succeed.

Cllr Hopkins says before either government of Boundary Commission can properly consider the call local people must take account of issues such as education, road maintenance and dustbin emptying.

'We need a realisation of the consequences,' he says. 'It could be that council tax could rise considerably. And people have to decide if that is acceptable.'

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