A QUEENSBURY park remains on a list of potential sites for a new crematorium - despite a warning it could damage Bradford Council's reputation.

Littlemoor Park is one of two sites in the South of the district the Council is considering as the site for a new crematorium that would replace Scholemoor Crematorium.

The other site under consideration is privately owned, and its location has not yet been revealed.

Over 2,300 people had signed a petition calling for Littlemoor to be dropped from the list of potential sites, and the petition was discussed by Bradford Council's decision making Executive today.

Members did not remove Littlemoor from the list, but said they would consider residents' concerns when they put together a feasibility study into the best site.

The park belongs to the people of Queensbury - gifted by the Foster family.

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Carolyn Bowe from Friends of Littlemoor said: "Using Littlemoor as a site for a cremation service would not only cause reputational risk and financial damage to the council, you can add to that a complete loss of trust and confidence in the Council as well the Trustees of the Park.

"We understand that from a commercial point of view, keeping Littlemoor on the list would offer leverage in negotiations with the private site owner but once again, this is at the expense of the community you are here to serve. Have you tried selling a house around the boundary of Littlemoor at the moment? Are you aware of how much time and energy people are having to commit to save from the hands of the Council what already belongs to them? Every day that Littlemoor remains on the list there is a growing impact on our community."

Councillor Sarah Ferriby, Executive for Environment, Sport and Culture, said: "We understand your concerns, but we do need to replace our crematoria. There are very few sites across the district that are suitable."

She said the issue would come back to the Council once a feasibility study into each site is complete, but that the preferred option would be to build on a private site.

Council leader Susan Hinchcliffe said: "We need new crematoria, and a decision to build new ones should have been made years ago.

"It was always going to be difficult, but there is a process to go through and we need to respect that."

She said a decision would be made later this year.