Bradford Council lawyers are considering a demand by protesters to scrap a controversial planning process for nearly 300 homes in Menston.

Councillor Ian Greenwood said he has sought legal advice about the long-running planning saga after a call for the whole process to be abandoned.

Coun Greenwood received a letter from Chris Schofield, a solicitor representing the Menston Action Group (MAG), demanding the process be scrapped after a crunch planning meeting last month had to be cancelled at the last minute when it was discovered the authority had failed to consult with the Environment Agency on the plans. Coun Greenwood said: “We’ve received the solicitor’s letter, we’re seeking legal advice and I’m not in a position to comment until I’ve got appropriate legal advice.”

The latest developments could add even more delays to the plans by Barratt Homes to build 174 homes at Derry Hill and Taylor Wimpey to construct 125 homes at Bingley Road.

A decision was expected to be made last month but a planning meeting was postponed when planners revealed the Council did not consult with the Environment Agency about the plans.

Critics at the time called the meeting a “farce.”

An earlier meeting scheduled for July was also cancelled only days before it was due to go ahead.

No date has yet been set for a new planning panel meeting, despite one of the applications being more than a year old.

A senior councillor says the mistakes in the two applications were a one-off and vowed they would not be repeated.

Conservative group leader Coun Glen Miller wrote to the Council’s chief executive Tony Reeves to demand an investigation and question if mistakes had been made in any other major applications.

He said the inquiry found the last six major applications were all handled appropriately and the Menston problems were due to “human error.”