A council youth worker has been transferred from Cleckheaton and Scholes because of a lack of support from parents and young people.

Tom Hinchcliffe has been told he can no longer work in the area after numerous pleas for help from volunteers went unanswered.

He is to move to neighbouring Gomersal where he will help run a fledgling youth project on a council housing estate.

But Councillor Ann Raistrick (Cleckheaton, Lib-Dem) has attacked the move, which she says has left the area with no-one to co-ordinate activities for children and teenagers.

She said: "I'm not impressed and I'll be making a stand against this. We held a public meeting in Scholes last year and one of the major concerns was the lack of activities for children."

Coun Raistrick said Mr Hinchcliffe, who works for Kirklees Council's Community Development Services, last summer ran after-school activity session in Scholes - which attracted more than 30 children each evening.

But he has since suffered little support from parents and young adults - hampering efforts to continue evening activities.

His work to build a countryside walk from the Brooklyn Estate in Cleckheaton has been taken over by members of the British Trust For Conservation Volunteers.

Community Development Services principal community co-ordinator Hazel Crowther said she had been forced to move Mr Hinchcliffe due to lack of support.

She said: "It was not a decision I enjoyed making but support from volunteers has dropped off.

"Our aim is to work with local people, give them skills and a little bit of grant money so they can then continue on their own.

"If Tom has no-one to work with there's nothing he can do."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.