BRADFORD Council has said it has no plans to move or reduce its highways services based at a depot in Keighley.

It commented after a councillor said he was told unofficially about plans to shift provision from Stockbridge Depot, in Royd Ings Avenue.

Worth Valley councillor Russell Brown raised this concern last Wednesday (Feb 13) at a meeting of Oxenhope Parish Council.

After the meeting, Cllr Brown said he had been told by a Bradford Council employee that the council intended to move the existing depot to one of its other bases, further along Royd Ings Avenue, where refuse services are based.

"I was told this in conversation by someone who assumed I knew already," he explained. "But as councillors we haven't been told anything.

"I don't object to such a move in principle, as it’s only a short distance. But what would it mean for services currently offered at Stockbridge? Would there be the same provision?"

Cllr Brown said he was particularly concerned about any changes to gritting.

He said if gritting is no longer provided from Keighley, that could mean it would be based at Wakefield Road, on the other side of Bradford.

He said this would have serious implications in icy weather, with gritting vehicles struggling to negotiate traffic to reach roads in and around Keighley.

Bradford Council's Stockbridge Depot was earmarked for closure two years ago, but plans to close it were scrapped in February 2017.

Speaking at the end of last week, Worth Valley councillor Rebecca Poulsen said: "I haven't seen a firm proposal for the depot, all I've heard have been rumours.

"There does seem to be some uncertainty. If they were to close the depot down it would be a major concern."

A Bradford Council spokesman this week said: “There are no plans to move or cut any highways services currently provided at Stockbridge Depot.”