Community leaders in Haworth say time is against them in a bid to buy a former school building for the village.

Haworth Village Trust wants to buy the first school building on Butt Lane and convert it for the benefit of the local community.

The property has been put on the market by the council and the deadline for bids is next Friday, August 2.

The village trust fears the site will be sold off to a property developer.

But it has not yet given up hope and will use a £5,000 grant from Bradford council's regeneration budget to carry out a feasibility study.

Trust chairman Ian Palmer said: "We are up against it in the sense that time is not on our side, but hopefully we can get the consultants to do the feasibility study.

"Our aim is to see how best the building can be used and then put an offer in to Bradford council with an indication as to where we can secure funds from.

"We've approached the council to see if they will lease it to us on a peppercorn rent, but we've had nothing back on that.

"There is already a community centre on the lower part of the site and we would have to discuss if they would be interested in taking on a larger premises."

Worth Valley Councillor Glen Miller, who is a member of the trust, said: "The village trust has done an excellent job so far and I think it would be rather silly for the council to sell the site to someone else when the trust wants to turn it into something that will benefit the local community."

The first school building, which dates from the early 1900s, was closed following the school review. A new primary school has been established on the former Hartington Middle School site.