A LACK of power has not stopped town councillors from helping to tackle Keighley's traffic problems, a leading member has said.

The watch and transport committee chairman Cllr Graham Mitchell explained he and colleagues had successfully lobbied for improvements at the High Street roundabout, Valley Road junction and Compeigne Avenue.

He said the committee had helped persuade the district council to allow taxi drivers to display adverts to fund security cameras in their vehicles.

He added: "Unfortunately our request to the area co-ordinator's office for parking restrictions at the Braithwaite Road-West Lane junction, and a 30mph speed limit on Glen Lee Lane, appear to have gone into a budgetary black hole."

He said the new Worth Valley joint transport committee, which first met in January, was working to stave off the threat of worsening congestion in the town centre. The committee - which includes members of Keighley, Oxenhope, and Haworth, Cross Roads and Stanbury councils - hopes to reach an agreement to set up a commuter service on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway.

Cllr Mitchell added that watch and transport's meetings with the police meant it had a good understanding of what the local force can and cannot achieve.

He said: "We are never afraid to criticise the police when we feel they are falling short, and we strongly opposed the closure of the North Street station.

"But it is a source of pride to us that the Keighley division actually has the lowest crime figures of any police division in West Yorkshire."