Some years ago a university professor created a huge outcry when he made predictions about the future.

One of them was that as human beings continued to devolve over the years they would have no use for legs and the limbs would gradually change shape or disappear.

Part of his reasoning was that the human race in many parts of the western world would stop using their legs as a basic mode of transport to get from point A to point B. He predicted that warning signs would be seen but in the main ignored.

Among those 'red lights' would be a general fall in health as more and more people used other forms of transport and pollution increased. His forward looking theories of evolution were laughed out of court by many.

This week it was revealed that Keighley has been chosen for the first campaign of its kind in the country to urge people to walk their way to health.

The trailblazing project is being organised by the British Heart Foundation and Countryside Commission, and it will be dovetailed with the proposals for traffic improvement in the town centre.

The Foundation says it will do anything to promote walking as it is one of the most straightforward, cheapest and easiest ways to stay fit.

At the same time as this news was breaking, Imam Syed Basharat Hussain urged members of the Muslim community in Keighley to walk to the mosque - a campaign which he rightly believes would reduce pollution and traffic problems.

He also urged people to take pride in their communities and help by clearing litter from the streets. Both of these campaigns deserve wholehearted support.

Perhaps the professor wasn't so mad after all.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.