A fight to save the "last remaining field" in Burley seems doomed after an Inspector ruled against the wishes of local people.

An inquiry into the fate of Burley House Field has decided against the views of the community council which wanted to see the area of green preserved for future generations.

Half of the field has already been earmarked for development but the community council wants to see Village Green status given to the other half.

Local people rallied round to produce photographic evidence for the inquiry in December to show that the field had been used as a recreation ground.

But their efforts appear to be in vain after the inspector, Vivien Chapman recommended that their application be rejected.

The final decision rests with Bradford's Licensing Panel and although local people are continuing the battle they say they do not hold out too much hope.

In a report to the Burley Community Council campaigner John Gundry said the Inspector had found for the BCC on all major matters.

But he had recommended rejection because he said the BCC had not made the boundaries of its locality sufficiently clear, and because there had been a case of hay making on what is claimed to be recreational ground in the early 1980s.

The community council insists that the boundary details were delivered to the inspector's address before the deadline but somehow went astray.

They now expect his report to be amended to take this into account.

The issue of hay making the grounds on which the application looks set to be refused - is also proving controversial, with many people in the village not accepting that it has taken place in recent years.

The barrister acting for the community council is now objecting to the inspector's decision.

The application for protected status is due for consideration by Bradford's Licensing Panel on April 21 although it may be postponed.

As well as making a final decision on the issue the council is also objecting to the application in its role as land-owner.

And this dichotomy is causing concern to many villagers who believe it could be difficult to clearly distinguish between the role of objector and arbitrator.

This week John Gundry said he felt there were one or two areas where the council had not distinguished between its two capacities.

He added: "We are very disappointed with where we have got to."

He said they would now have to wait to find out the inspector's reaction to their objections before being able to decide their next step.

"We don't want to give the impression that we are optimistic about it but there is still some hope," he said. "We have not given up the struggle."