Silsden is to get a £10,000 closed circuit television camera within the next month.

Craven Ward district councillor Andrew Mallinson relayed the good news to Silsden Town Council last Thursday.

He told members the camera would be in place for an initial three months as part of a Bradford Council initiative.

The CCTV will be monitored by controllers in Bradford who have direct contact with police.

Coun Mallinson said: "We'll trial it, see how it goes and find out for certain where the new ones are going to go."

Councillor Liz Trainor commented: "It's good to see we're getting support and not just verbal support. We appreciate the trial."

Silsden Business Watch is raising money to fund permanent security cameras in the town and has so far collected £5,000.

The council also discussed the on-going controversy surrounding policing in the town.

The discussion came after the police station in Silsden, which had been closed for three years, was sold for an undisclosed amount.

The move angered residents who had been campaigning to save the £200,000 station and reopen it as a community contact point.

Coun Mallinson said Bradford Council had come up with some alternative sites for the contact point, including Silsden Methodist Church and the town council chambers. But the favoured spot was the town library.

Coun Trainor was concerned a separate room would not be available for residents who may wish to speak to police or victim support privately.

She added: "Bradford Council is not willing to put a decent amount of money back into Silsden and the police force - that is totally unacceptable."

Coun Keith Savage added: "It's a step backwards. This project should have been up and running two-and-a-half or three years ago.

"A lot of people have lost interest in this project because it has taken so long and is running so far behind. I, for one, have lost interest in it."

Coun Lawrence Walton disagreed and felt it would be beneficial to just get the centre up and running at the library.

And he added if it proved to be a success, members could look again at another site.

Coun Mallinson called it "a step forward" and said he envisaged the library being used between 12 and 18 months initially.

Councillors agreed to get the centre open at the library. Plans are still on-going to eventually get a permanent centre at a council-owned building on Wesley Place.