A charity was forced to cancel a special fundraising day when a council blunder left it locked out.

Members of Keighley and District Association for the Blind were furious when raised bollards on Low Street prevented them from setting up a stand in front of Keighley Market last Saturday.

The Albert Street charity had wanted to raise cash towards buying computer equipment for the new millennium. But organisers of the event say they ended up losing money.

Fundraising appeals manager Carole Godley says weeks of planning were wasted because Bradford council officials did not have the foresight to contact the group. She says: "We had organised a mobile display as part of national White Cane Day and we had applied to the council for a permit, which we received before the day.

"Bradford and Bingley had kindly lent us their mobile display van and members here had spent a lot of time preparing for what is a national awareness day.

"We had a lot of information ready to hand out and a display of crafts made by blind and partially sighted people.

"When we turned up on Saturday morning the bollards were raised and we couldn't find anyone with a key to unlock them.

"We tried to find out who was responsible for the operation of them but people we spoke to just kept on passing the buck and it seemed that no one in the Airedale Centre or market had a key.

"Although we managed to get some collectors out on the streets we didn't make as much as we had wanted for our appeal, and in the end we are £200 down because we had special posters printed for the day.

"We were disappointed but also quite angry because no one bothered to inform us about this, and everyone we've contacted has just fobbed us off. At the end of the day we have been let down badly and we are concerned that it doesn't happen again to anyone else."

Carole says members of the organisation are also concerned about the danger to blind and partially sighted pedestrians created by the bollards. She adds: "We think there is an important issue for blind people because the bollards are knee-high and are therefore a potential hazard."

A spokesman person for Bradford council says: "We would like to apologise to the association for what happened at the weekend and have offered them the use of the area outside the market on a future Saturday."

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