An action group set up to safeguard the future of Holden Hall, in Oakworth, has received a written assurance from the leader of Bradford Council that the building will not be sold.

Councillor Ian Greenwood contacted Holden Hall Action Group to confirm the Council had removed the building from its asset disposal list.

Holden Hall’s future had been in doubt after the Council announced it would shut or sell off the facility as part of its programme of spending cuts.

The building was given a temporary reprieve following an outcry, but Coun Greenwood warned there would still be a wider review of the costs of community halls in the district.

A Council spokesman said the authority would be willing to discuss handing over the hall to a community group.

Chairman of the action group, Jackie McGinnis, said she hoped people would now come forward to take over the running of the building.

“It would be such a shame to lose Holden Hall. There is nowhere else of the same size in the village," she said.

The action group has already launched a petition calling for the hall’s future to be discussed by the Council. They currently have 600 signatures and need 900 more before the Council has an obligation to debate it.

Copies are available in Oakworth Post Office.

A Council spokesman said: “Bradford Council has no plans to dispose of Holden Hall, Oakworth, on the open market. We would, however, be willing to discuss the transfer of the hall from the Council to a local community group if one were to come forward with a practical proposal to take it over.”