Community leaders in Barkerend are to demand meetings with leaders of Bradford Council after plans for a flagship cricket centre were suddenly scrapped.

Council leaders axed plans for the £3 million Gilpin Street cricket centre last week after claiming that the centre did not meet funding criteria.

People in Barkerend have been campaigning for more than 15 years for the academy and are outraged at the decision. More than 300 people yesterday attended a public meeting held at the Karmand Centre to protest against the decision.

Motions to allow Karmand Street Management Committee to take the matter directly to the Council and to bring a judicial review against their decision were unanimously passed.

Allegations of race bias surrounding the decision were also made, allegations that Councillor David Ward pledged to investigate.

The flagship cricket academy had been given planning permission last year and had been warmly backed by Yorkshire County Cricket Club.

Sport England had committed £200,000 to the bid and community members have ploughed £100,000 into the project to pay for legal and land survey fees for the site.

Addressing the meeting, Karmand Centre chairman Sikander Mahmood, said: "We will demand meetings on your behalf with the people who have made this decision.

"Our plans included six shops which would have brought money and jobs into this area.

"And now at the 11th hour the carpet has been pulled from under our feet. This meeting marks the start of our campaign."

One of those who rose to speak to the meeting was a young cricket player from the area who said that he and his fellow players were having to travel to Huddersfield and Halifax in order to play matches due to there being no facilities in the area.

The Gilpin Street cricket centre was one of the major schemes proposed by regeneration company Regen 2000, when it was founded in 2000 to spend £28 million of single regeneration budget cash.

Councillor Jeanette Sunderland also attended the meeting and urged those in attendance to lend their backing to the campaign.

Other members of Bradford Council's executive committee and Yorkshire Forward were invited but declined to attend the meeting.

Council finance bosses pulled the plug on the project last week after saying it did not meet their criteria for funding.

However this was questioned at the meeting when it was pointed out that Regen 2000 had made it its flagship project and that it had been working closely with the Council in preparing the bid.

Amar Rashid, a solicitor and supporter of the project, told the Telegraph & Argus that the group had already sought legal advice on the preparation of a judicial review and had plans to try and obtain legal aid to fund it.