GRIT bins and their contents – installed across Keighley by the town council – have been stolen.

The thieves have been condemned by a town council committee chairman, who said their “ridiculous” actions were putting people’s safety at risk.

The town council has at least 70 of the grit bins all over Keighley and Oakworth, at locations where ice is judged to be a particular threat during winter.

They are administered by the council’s watch and transport committee. But committee chairman Cllr Michael Westerman said two of the bins had been stolen from Central Avenue, Bracken Bank, with a third going missing from Shann Crescent and a fourth from Hollins Lane, Utley.

“The value of each bin is about £125, and if it’s full that’s about £20 to £30 worth of grit,” he said. “Plus there’s the cost of having the bin installed in the first place.

“One of the bins which was taken from Central Avenue was near where the pensioners’ bungalows are. It’s been targeted twice before, with all the grit being stolen very soon after it was filled.

“Now the whole bin has gone, along with a second bin at the bottom of Central Avenue, which was outside the hairdressers.”

Cllr Westerman said the bins must first have been emptied of their contents before being stolen, noting that at one point the town council did fit a padlock onto the bin near the bungalows to stop it being raided.

However, the council then struggled to find a nearby resident who would be willing to take responsibility for the key.

Cllr Westerman said: “We don’t want to have to lock the bins up, because that defeats the whole purpose. We know one of the bins from Central Avenue was taken about three weeks ago, and the other even earlier than that. The one on Shann Crescent was taken before Christmas, but I don’t know when the Hollins Lane grit bin was stolen.

“It’s just ridiculous, because if someone contacts us wanting a grit bin on their street, and they meet the criteria, then we will supply them with one. We are prepared to do that.

“If it’s a case of someone stealing the grit bins just for a laugh, then we’d ask them to put them back.”

“And if someone sees grit being removed from a bin by someone who doesn’t live in the area, then we’d ask them to take down their car registration number and report it to Keighley Town Council, because that is roadside theft.”