A CALL for writers to pen a poem to help mark the route of Bradford's buried beck is gathering pace.

The Friends of Bradford’s Becks (FOBB) group wants to plot the course of the waterway, which flows beneath the city centre, using 15 stone markers, each carrying one line of a poem specially written about the beck.

It appealed for volunteer writers and, less than two weeks later, has received 19 competing poems.

FOBB member Ed Butterworth said: "We've had a steady trickle of submissions so far and are up to 19 entries. We're hoping that the schools will respond now that they're back from half term and it isn't unusual in competitions like this for a lot of the entries to arrive on the last day."

The group was criticised for not announcing a fee for the winning poet by Kate Fox, who is the writer-in-residence at Feversham College.

She said a lack of payment sent out the wrong message about how writers were valued.

FOBB, which is a group of volunteers, said it did not have any money to pay the winning poet, but is now appealing for donations so it can offer some kind of fee.

And all entrants will have some sort of recognition as FOBB hopes to publish all entries on its website.

"And there's a good chance that they will be put into a small exhibition to tour the local libraries," Mr Butterworth said.

FOBB chairman Professor David Lerner added: "Poetry on paving stones to mark the course of the Beck is just one of FOBB's projects. For example, I've been working with a team of volunteers to monitor pollution and we are just submitting a bid to the Environment Agency to extend this 'citizen science' approach to the whole of Bradford."

The hand-carved Welsh sandstone slabs will placed in the pavement at key locations from Thornton Road, by the Odeon building, right through to Lower Kirkgate, past The Midland Hotel.

They will be funded by commercial sponsorship and so far eight of the 15 are spoken for, with others on the way. Sponsors include Westfield, Bradford Live, Anchor Housing and Yorkshire Water.

The winning poem will be picked by a panel of FOBB and officers from Bradford Council, which is supporting the scheme and will be installing the specially-carved stones and an information board in Tyrrel Street .

Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe, the Council’s executive member of employment, skills and culture, previously applauded the "imaginative" project.

Anyone wanting to submit a poem can visit www.bradford-beck.org for more details. The closing date for entries is March 1.