Councillors in Bracken Bank and Woodhouse are not content with holding surgeries - they're making house calls too!

The hit squad of three Keighley South Ward councillors walk the streets looking for residents who need advice or help.

Lynne Joyce, John Prestage and Steve Thomas post letters through doors a few days beforehand and householders put a sign in their window if they want a call.

The councillors cover a few streets each time in a ward that includes Parkwood Rise, Woodhouse, Spring Bank, Holycroft, Bracken Bank, Ingrow, Parkwood, Broomhill and Lund Park.

The councillors feel the new "mobile surgeries" offer a better service to local people than traditional sessions in community centres.

They were finding that only one or two people bothered to turn up for weekend or evening surgeries in community centres, halls and schools.

In one morning the trio are now talking with up to 20 people about issues ranging from refuse collection and street lighting to crime and health problems.

Cllr Joyce says: "The old idea of people coming to us doesn't work. This lets people know we're around - it's more direct."

She says that by seeing several people in one area they gain a better idea of major issues affecting particular streets or communities.

The visits enable the councillors to reach people who are disabled, or parents with several children, who find it hard to get to normal surgeries.

Cllr Prestage says: "Sometimes people are a bit hesitant to come to a surgery. They feel better in their own home where they're on their territory."

He says that even if nobody requests a visit, simply by walking the streets they gain a better insight into problems affecting their ward, such as litter or car parking.

Cllr Prestage says they are also able to make informed suggestions to council departments, such as derelict land that could be developed.

The three councillors started their mobile surgeries last year after seeing how successful they were elsewhere in the country.

They have offered to distribute newsletters from Bracken Bank Community Association along with their own letters to residents.

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