A petition to save Haworth Park’s threatened public toilet block has been handed in to Bradford Council.

A total of 1,131 people signed the petition calling for the block to be kept open. The facilities in the award-winning Central Park are earmarked for closure as part of the district council’s efforts to save millions of pounds.

However, local residents and councillors have argued that axing public toilets in a spot which is so popular with tourists would not make sense. They warn that Haworth is expected to accommodate thousands of visitors from the UK and even further afield when the Tour de France passes through the village next July.

The petition was started by the Worth Valley’s three district councillors – Glen Miller, Russell Brown and Rebecca Poulsen.

Commenting after the petition had been presented to the council, Coun Miller thanked everyone who lent their signature to the campaign. “A lot of people signed this in a very short period of time – it wasn’t available for long,” he said.

Bradford councillor Andrew Thornton has defended the closure, arguing that the authority needs to take difficult decisions to balance its budget.