YOUTH cafes in Shipley and Bingley have had their immediate futures secured after councillors voted to approve a plan to combine existing resources.

Bradford Council's department for environment and sport had proposed saving the "unsustainable" £27,000 annual rent on the Market Street property where Shipley Youth Cafe is now based and moving it into the headquarters of health charity Hale in Westgate.

And last night Shipley Area Committee voted in favour of that plan and also to move the Council-backed Bingley Inclusion Project into the Bingley Youth Cafe at the town's swimming pool.

Staff from Green Lane Recreation Centre may possibly also use the venue, as may the new Bingley Town Council.

Shipley and Bingley Voluntary Services failed in its bid for renewed Lottery funding for the BYC, prompting the Council to step in and help.

The committee were shown a pile of handwritten pleas from users of Shipley Youth Cafes asking for it not to be closed or moved.

Shipley area co-ordinator Damian Fisher told the meeting at Windhill Community Centre: "Due to budget constraints, we're just looking to get the best use of our resources and this way we will get better leverage and pool our resources effectively.

"It will also mean we have an overall saving of £24,000 to be redirected to youth services and I don't think there are really any other options.

Committee Chairman David Heseltine stressed that Shipley Youth Cafe would not be closing: "The whole reason behind what we're trying to do is to continue providing a youth cafe - it is not closing, it's relocating giving us monies to redeploy to youth work rather than pay in rent to a property owner.

Speaking after the vote to preserve both cafes Shipley and Bingley Voluntary Services CEO Paul Stephens said: "These new partnerships will ensure provision for young people and it gives hope for us getting increased funding across Shipley."

*Departing Shipley police Inspector Hugh Robinson introduced his replacement, Inspector Julie Deacon, to the Area Committee and took questions on a reported increase in local crime of some 20 per cent.

He explained new methods, such as including domestic breaches of the peace and cybercrime as fully logged crimes had contributed to the significant rise.

Addressing a spike in crimes in Wilsden and Harden he said increased patrols were always sent to such "hotspots" and that these included plain clothes officers hunting signs of criminal activity.