CAMPAIGNERS fighting to save an old Otley school building from demolition are appealing for help in their bid to establish its ownership.

The Wharfe Street Action committee wants to find out as much as it can about one of the town's historical benefactors, Jeremiah Garnett, to add to its ammunition for keeping the Wharfe Street school building.

Sheila Shackleton, committee chairman, said despite a year of investigations, it remained unclear who owned the land, and until Leeds City Council or Airedale and Wharfedale College can prove their rights, they cannot sell the site for development.

It is known that Jeremiah Garnett once owned much of the land in the area and had an interest in education.

Bill McIlwraith, a member of the Wharfe Street committee, said: "It appears to us that they have to prove categorically that they own it and what we are doing is throwing serious doubts into the equation," he said.

But Councillor Graham Kirkland, who has also looked into the issue, said he thought the only way the group could prove its point was through the courts which would be very expensive..

l Do you know anything about the legacies of Jeremiah Garnett or his trustees? Let us know at the Observer, 9 Orchard Gate, Otley, and we will pass the news on.

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