Ex-members of the Dukes -- known as Yorkshire's warriors -- have hit out at Government plans to axe a 300-year-old army regiment which recruits in Keighley.

Worth Valley councillor Kris Hopkins, who served with the 1st Battalion between 1985 and 1989, branded the plan an absolute disgrace.

The 1st Battalion, the Duke of Wellington's Regiment, based in Halifax, is among three Yorkshire-based regiments threatened with losing their single identities in a massive merger.

The regiment has strong links with Keighley and has a Territorial Army company based in Lawkholme Lane.

Cllr Hopkins said: "It is an absolute disgrace. What they are really talking about is reducing manpower by about 650 soldiers."

He added: "It is coming at a time when more troops are about to be deployed to Iraq to unknown situations, and this will do nothing to help morale."

Keighley MP Ann Cryer said the cuts would come at a bad time.

She added: "It does seem a little bit odd at a time when we are proposing to send troops to Iraq, and more immediately to the Sudan for humanitarian relief. Although I am not a fan of defence spending I think money should be spent on relief operations to protect innocent civilians. I just hope the cuts won't impact on that."

The Ministry of Defence would not confirm the merger. A spokesman said the changes would be announced later this year.

She added: "To speculate over which regiments would be damaging for the soldiers and their families."

If Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon has his way, the Dukes would be among 18 other single-battalion regiments across the country to be amalgamated into eight multi-battalion regional regiments. The move would be part of the biggest Armed Forces cuts in decades.

Charles Dent, managing director of the Timothy Taylor brewery, is an honorary colonel for the Ypres Company (East and West Riding Regiment), based in Huddersfield, which is responsible for the TA detachment in Keighley. He also has strong links with the Duke of Wellington's Regiment.

He said: "I am extremely disappointed in the approach of the Ministry of Defence because they are not applying any good logic.

"They are trying to reduce costs by merging the single battalions but they haven't included a number of other regiments, which have a number of battalions.

"In the past ten years the Dukes have been considered to be in the top echelons of regiments."

"They are extremely well led at the moment, to a very high standard, and they even led a platoon last year to Iraq. Why spoil something that's good?"