Otley and Wharfedale are to be split up under proposals by the Boundary Commission.

It suggests splitting the former ward into three new wards, with Pool-in-Wharfedale, Bramhope and Arthington going in with Cookridge.

Ward councillors have reacted with dismay, saying it will mean the end of historical links.

The proposals, which are now the subject of a six week consultation, suggest three reorganised wards - Guiseley and Rawdon, Cookridge and Wharfedale, and Otley and Yeadon.

The Horsforth ward will remain the same if the draft recommendation is upheld.

The commission is required by law to review the electoral arrangements of every principal local authority and commissioners have decided that current arrangements across Leeds are unequal.

Horsforth Town Council chairman John Brodwell said he was pleased with the commission's draft recommendation.

"This can only be good news for Horsforth and the town council agrees with me that we want Horsforth to remain as one area. I sincerely hope the proposals will be accepted and Horsforth will remain intact," he said.

All three political parties in Leeds and other interested parties submitted proposals to the Boundary Commission.

Labour-led Leeds City Council and the Liberal Democrats both proposed retaining the existing Horsforth ward.

The city council wanted a revised Aireborough ward, to be named Guiseley and Rawdon, and a new Cookridge and Wharfedale ward to include Bramhope, Pool and Arthington.

However the Liberal Democats said the communities of the Wharfe Valley - Otley, Pool and Arthington - should be contained in a single ward. They proposed a new Yeadon and Rawdon ward, amendments to the Aireborough ward and a new Bramhope and Cookridge ward.

The Conservatives proposed revising the existing Otley and Wharfedale ward by using Carlton parish as a boundary.

They said that Horsforth should join Rawdon and that a modified Aireborough ward should be called Guiseley and Yeadon. They argued that their proposals would reunite a large part of Rawdon within one ward.

However the commission has proposed adopting the city council's suggestion of four wards, but with amendments to the boundary between the Guiseley and Rawdon and Otley and Yeadon wards to achieve more equality.

Its report added: "We have carefully considered all the representations we have received.

"In proposing new warding arrangements for this area we seek to provide the best reflection of community identities and interests while retaining, as far as possible, a separation between the rural and suburban areas."

Coun Graham Kirkland (Lib Dem, Otley and Wharfedale) said he was against Otley and Wharfedale being split.

"By splitting Otley and Wharfedale into little chunks will make it less effective," he argued.

And he believed people in Pool would feel swamped by becoming part of Cookridge. "Here we have a small rural village being taken over by a large urban sprawl."

Coun Kirkland said he could not see any benefits at all from the boundary changes. "I would urge people to write in with their comments," he added.

Coun Clive Fox (Con, Otley and Wharfedale) said everyone knew there needed to be boundary changes because of population shifts, but he was also against the changes.

"Although the Boundary Commission seeks to achieve roughly equal numbers of voters for each ward, they also tell us they strive to keep communities together as far as possible. So far as the present Otley and Wharfedale ward is concerned, they have failed to understand the community links which exist."

Coun Fox added there were strong historical links with Otley, Bramhope, Pool and Arthington - all part of the old Otley-based Wharfedale District Council.

"The villagers look to Otley for virtually all their services. There are direct bus services and numerous villagers are active members of Otley's many voluntary organisations."

Under the proposals, Pool, Bramhope and Arthington will come under the new Cookridge Ward.

"There is no obvious connection with Cookridge, and no public transport links of any consequence. As someone else pointed out 'we read the Wharfedale Observer, not the Cookridge Observer'," said Coun Fox.

He claimed that the changes looked like they had been proposed by someone with little local knowledge. "They don't seem to have taken the trouble to appreciate the real community links which exist. It is hard to see how anyone can justify the linking of the three Wharfe Valley villages with what amounts to little more than a chunk of anonymous suburbia."

l Views on the boundary changes should be sent to: Team Leader, Leeds Review, The Boundary Commission for England, Trevelyan House, Great Peter Street, London, SW1P 2HW.