A HUGE cash legacy will boost care and education in Otley thanks to the generosity of a well-known family.

Relatives of former mayor, the late Norman Hindle, have bequeathed £120,000 to Wharfedale Hospital and Prince Henry's Grammar School.

Mr Hindle's sister-in-law, Doreen Hindle died in Canada last year and has left 200,000 US dollars to be split equally between the school and the hospital.

It is also believed that money has also been left to the Otley museum and Otley All Saints Parish Church.

The money is thought to have been passed from Doreen's husband, Walter Hindle and his brother Norman, who died in 2000, to Doreen.

Walter was one of the first scholars at Prince Henry's when the school opened in 1918.

The pair moved to Canada in 1934 after their marriage in Otley and they later moved to the United States.

Walter worked as a chemical development engineer to mills in North Carolina and later was the president of his own company Walter H Hindle Inc textile consultations of New York.

Norman Hindle was twice Otley Town Mayor, a Leeds city councillor, and elected honorary alderman of Leeds City Council as well as honorary citizen of Otley.

He lived for most of his life in Bridge Avenue and was educated at the former Board School and then at Prince Henry's.

Doreen's niece, Judith Reigel - formerly Judith Hannam - moved to Canada at around the same time her aunt did.

Judith's husband, Reverend Victor Reigel, said that the family were all still very fond of Otley and he and Judith had also married in the town.

He said: "It was a joint decision of theirs when they made their wills to leave money to Otley.

"The brothers and Doreen were people of Otley and they had done their courting in Danefield Wood.

"Walter felt that the hospital was an extremely important one and he wanted to put something towards it."

The Rev and Mrs Reigel live in Ontario, Canada, and helped to look after Doreen when her husband died.

"Judith is also an Otley girl at heart and she picks up the accent again when she visits home.

"I think Doreen was very aware that even though they lived over here, all of their hearts are in Otley."

The plan for Prince Henry's is to put the money into a trust fund for students who want to go to university to study science.

The Will specified that it was given to the school for the furtherance of scientific effort.

It is hoped that students who perhaps couldn't normally go to university will be able to benefit and it will help them to go straight to university from school."

Christopher Lillington, head of the language college and senior management, said: "We as a school are deeply grateful for this extremely generous bequest. This will ensure that our young people will have the best possible opportunities to further develop their studies and reach their potential in all spheres of science.

A spokesman for the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said: "We understand we are going to get this sum of money and it is a wonderfully generous donation.

"The money will go to the general purposes fund for Wharfedale Hospital so it would be spent on something that would benefit the hospital itself rather than being spent elsewhere or on specific projects."

The hospital benefited from a £103,000 donation in 1998 when the orthopaedic department shared in a legacy worth thousands of pounds from a Leeds woman who died in 1996.