A campaign to get Channel Five for Burley and Menston is being launched this week.

All three Wharfedale councillors have joined forces to get the service for the "forgotten" villages.

Matt Palmer, Chris Greaves and Dale Smith are working together in a bid to improve the transmission for the area.

This week Coun Palmer launched a petition which is backed by the two other Wharfedale councillors.

They are urging Tessa Jowell, the Secretary of State at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, to upgrade the Relay Station in Otley which serves the Wharfe Valley.

He said: "Whilst nearby towns at least have the option of cable television, people in Burley and Menston do not get cable, digital, or even Channel 5 on an analogue signal.

"As the local councillors for Menston and Burley, we think local people deserve better. The Wharfe Valley is not a remote area.

"It is just 15 miles from 2 major cities, and the is no reason why we should have to wait until 2012 for digital television."

He stressed: "We only got Broadband Internet in Burley because of a community campaign to enable the exchange. Community activisim may also bring us digital TV."

Coun Palmer said action now could bring digital TV to the Valley - and he warned that by the time the analogue signal was switched off, some areas could find themselves without digital either.

He said: "Upgrading the Relay Station in Otley would bring Freeview digital television to the entire Wharfe Valley, benefiting people in Otley and Ilkley as well."

He added: "According to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), 73 per cent of the population can get digital TV.

"The government says they cannot upgrade more areas until the analogue service is turned off, but the regulator OFCOM have confirmed to me that there is scope to extend digital coverage to over 75 per cent of the population, by upgrading more transmitters and relay stations.

"Unfortunately the DCMS says that the Wharfedale relay is 'not on the candidates list.' This is what we have to change if we want digital coverage for the Wharfe Valley."

He warned: "According to OFCOM, the government have not decided whether digital TV should cover the same areas as the current analogue signal.

"This could mean that some areas have no television at all after the analogue signal is turned off. Gaps would have to be filled by satellite."

Coun Chris Greaves said the area seemed to be ranked somewhere between the Falklands and the Hebrides in terms of the services it received.

"Wharfedale seems to be a black hole that has been forgotten by everybody for years.

"We were the last to get 625 lines and Channel Four. We have always been left behind in technology. We don't have cable, we don't have Channel 5, and digital radio is virtually impossible.

"We have at least got broadband now - but only after a long, long struggle."He argued: "The irritating thing is that we pay the same TV licence as everybody else - but we can't get any of the digital channels.

"We are having to pay for a service we are not receiving - and worse still no-one can actually say if we ever will receive it."

Anyone who wants to sign a copy of the petition or take it round their neighbours can find it on www.mattpalmer.net, or they can contact Coun Palmer on (01943) 863 790.