A RAMBLER says he has been “left puzzled” after a town council refused to stump up cash to complete a Silsden walks project.

Allan Friswell (pictured) had applied to Silsden councillors for £200 to provide waymarkers for a network of short walks he devised. But the town council, which had already granted £500 towards the cost of the venture, rejected the request.

“Given the quite extraordinary amount of interest generated in the walks it came as a great surprise to me to be told the council had unanimously refused the £200,” said Mr Friswell, from Cowling.

“The decision also knocks on the head all possibility of Silsden being accepted by the Walkers are Welcome scheme, which always brings a large increased commercial footprint to any town on which it is bestowed.”

He said there had been a “fantastic” public response to the Silsden Strolls, with nearly 600 printed sheets for strolls one and two alone being snapped-up in the past three weeks.

Town mayor Chris Atkinson said the council had been pleased to provide funds to help get the scheme off the ground.

But he added: “We always have to ensure the money we give out represents best value and unfortunately in the case of the subsequent application we did not feel it met that criteria.”