A former Shipley MP has urged the Government to dramatically expand the number of public allotments by building on brownfield sites and encouraging landowners to donate unused holdings to the community.

Chris Leslie, director of independent think tank New Local Government Network, has called for the Government and local councils to make better use of unused brownfield land to create new community allotments.

NLGN has also called upon the Government to offer tax incentives for landowners to allow allotments to be built on unused sections of their property.

Mr Leslie said: “It is well documented that allotments can help to keep people fit, encourage healthy eating, reduce carbon footprints and save money on food bills, so it’s a tragedy that more than 100,000 people are waiting to be provided with a plot of land.

“Our reforms would see much more unused and unfunctional brownfield land developed into a much more picturesque landscape of working allotments.”

Bradford Council has said the majority of its sites now have waiting lists, varying from a few months to more than five years.

It said plots were available at sites in Barkerend, Lidget Green, Girlington and Scotchman Road, Bradford, but some of these sites only have a couple of available plots.

A Bradford Council spokes-man said: “Any proposal to create new allotment sites on vacant Council land is considered having regard to the Council’s priorities, available budget and the extent of remediation work required to make potentially contaminated land suitable for use as allotments.”

The think tank has also suggested the Government should consider transferring unused plots to the community for agricultural use, if a voluntary system does not work.