KEIGHLEY’S under-threat community workers could be handed an eleventh hour lifeline.

Town councillors have drawn up a bill-busting budget blueprint that not only cuts the council tax precept by 2.17 per cent, but includes a £100,000 pot to fund the three posts for at least a year.

News the trio, which serve some of the town’s most deprived areas, were to be axed as part of Bradford Council’s savage cutbacks sparked shock and anger. One councillor even said it would “rip the heart out of the community”.

Now, the town council’s finance and audit committee plans to fill the void with a total £478,766 budget for the 2017-18 financial year – including the new £100,000 Community Development Workers’ Fund. There would also be a £60,000 Community Ward Improvement Fund. The committee’s recommendation will go to the full town council tonight. Keighley Central district councillor, Khadim Hussain, welcomes the move. He said: “I think this is an excellent proposal and I applaud it. Not only do I feel that the town council should back it, but I believe they’ll support it overwhelmingly.”

The recommendation – to be put forward by committee vice-chairman, Cllr Gary Pedley, and Cllr Barry Thorne – would amount to a charge of £32.99 on houses in the benchmark Band D category, compared to £33.72 in 2016-17.

Councillors will consider a budget summary report drawn up by their responsible financial officer. The report states: “Bradford Council has cut 100 per cent of the funding for community development workers from its 2017-18 budget. This vital service for Keighley has been identified as an area Keighley Town Council (KTC) can support, as it is a fundamental part of community growth, development and integration.”

The separate Community Ward Improvement Fund would see £2,000 sums being allocated to each of the 30 town councillors, to spend on ward improvements. The report warns the support grant received by KTC from Bradford Council has been cut from £111,554 to £94,832 for 2017-18. It states: “This is due to the new Bingley Town Council receiving a proportion of the grant from the available resource, which has reduced the allocation to other councils. Bradford Council has not confirmed KTC will receive the support grant for 2018-19, and there is the likelihood this will have ceased by 2020.”