Campaigners are stepping up their fight to keep a specialist dementia care ward at Airedale Hospital.

An action group is opposing plans to move Ward 24 to Lynfield Mount Hospital in Bradford.

Members will meet Bradford District Care Trust bosses on Monday to discuss the issue.

The group has started an online petition, at change.org/ en-GB/petitions/simon-large-to-keep-ward-24-open, objecting to the proposals. It has so far attracted more than 50 signatures, and a paper petition has been signed by a further 90.

Names will also be collected and information handed out during a day of action outside Keighley Market Hall, in Low Street, on March 1, between 10am and 1pm.

The care trust aims to save £300,000 by relocating the ward from the Steeton hospital, but opponents say the move would leave some people in the catchment area facing a 90-mile round trip to access the services.

The Reverend David Griffiths, chairman of the Ward 24 Carers Action Group, said: “We are very concerned about the proposals and the effect they will have on people, and I’m pleased with the support we’ve received so far from councillors and others.”

The trust says moving Ward 24 to a purpose-built facility at Lynfield Mount Hospital by spring 2015 is part of a wider plan to transform older people’s care.

It said the new unit would provide 22 private bedrooms, with some en-suite facilities, and would offer a bespoke space for people living with dementia.