KEIGHLEY Town councillors are due to consider a motion calling for the police and forensic science museum in Keighley Civic Centre to be temporarily closed.

Councillor Peter Corkindale, chairman of the town council’s civic centre committee, said this measure was needed to give the council time to work out whether it does have the legal authority to run such an attraction.

He confirmed that the town council had approached Bradford Council to see if the district authority would be prepared to take over the museum to allow Keighley Town Council to run it under delegated powers. However, he said it was now unlikely that this would go ahead.

A spokesman for Bradford Council said: “The Council is not in a position to take on additional visitor attractions given budget constraints.

“We are an accredited museum service and as such have to go through a rigorous examination process.

“We can’t take on other visitor attractions if they are not equally accredited. It could jeopardise the standing and therefore funding ability of our other museums.

“There’s already another police museum in the district. We would happily broker a meeting between the two museums to see if a sustainable partnership can be formed.”

Keighley Town Council has already voted to close a shop, cafe and bar in the North Street civic centre, after its clerk Tom Ferry warned that he had received no clear guidance on whether the council had a right to trade.

Keighley Town Council’s next full monthly meeting is on April 9.