A troubled Bradford Conservative association which has been hit by claims of racism is expected to remain suspended until after the General Election.

The Telegraph & Argus revealed exclusively on Saturday that Bradford West Tory parliamentary candidate Haroon Rashid was being reinstated to fight the seat.

But Bradford West Constituency Association will remain in "supported status" with a representative from the national party running its day-to-day affairs.

Today Bradford and Shipley Conser-vative agent John Hardy spoke of his concern that the problems could not have been settled locally.

But he called for more powers to be given to David Fagan, who is overseeing the constituency for the party, to enable the association to launch a strong election campaign.

Mr Fagan, regional Tory chairman for the Yorkshire and Humberside region, was brought in last July when an inquiry was launched into claims of racism in the association.

A national party spokesman said: "It is still in supported status and that will probably be the case until after the election."

A dossier of letters alleging racism has been sent to Conservative leader Michael Howard and party chairman Liam Fox. Bradford West's deputy chairman Alyas Khan, a long-serving member, was among those who made complaints.

Mr Hardy said although the association had operated on a day-to-day basis it had been "virtually moribund" and needed a sense of direction because of the imminent election.

"I hope Mr Fagan will be given more power and we can return to regular meetings and discuss how we can best fight the election and funding," he said.

"I am not thrilled we can't sort this out locally and we do need to get working."

Mr Haroon was suspended in a separate issue last April after a Sunday newspaper carried allegations of voting irregularities during his selection as prospective candidate.

The British Airways executive, who is based at Heathrow Airport in London, strenuously denied the allegations and was reinstated after an inquiry decided procedures had been correct.

The Bradford West seat is held by Labour's Marsha Singh.

The Conservative association has several hundred members and covers areas including Clayton, Thornton, Heaton and City Council wards.