KEIGHLEY Town Council can look forward to a "new dawn" according to one of its newest members.

Anayat Mohammad, one of nine successful Labour candidates to have joined this month via election or by standing unopposed, said while the previous council had faced problems its members had done their best for the town.

However, he warned that the council now has a lot of work to do to engage with local people and ensure more residents are made aware of its activities.

Councillor Mohammad, who lives in Utley and moved to Keighley from Blackburn 14 years ago, said: "What I've picked up on the doorstep is that the Keighley community is not really engaged with the town council.

"I even came across people who didn't know the town council existed.

"I find that really sad, because we have a number of individuals on Keighley Town Council doing their best for the population, but that population doesn't understand what they are trying to do."

Cllr Mohammad, who is married with four grown up children, has a professional background in developing social cohesion and anti extremism policies for local government authorities and the voluntary sector.

During the latest national elections he was campaign agent for Keighley's Labour parliamentary candidate John Grogan.

Cllr Mohammad, who was elected onto the town council's Spring Gardens and Utley Ward earlier this month, said his experiences as a campaign agent motivated him to enter politics for the first time.

"I've lived in Keighley for 14 years but I've not really played any role in Keighley itself," he added. "I feel I need to put something back into my community.

"I really didn't think I'd be elected and I'm grateful to the voters for having confidence in me.

"I want to see Keighley Town Council have some clear priorities, deliver on those priorities and communicate them to Keighley residents. That has to be fundamental.

"I also want to see the town council have better relations with Bradford District Council."

Keighley Town Council has mostly been non-political for its 13-year existence, but in the wake of the May 7 elections its membership included nine Labour councillors and four UKIP councillors.

Cllr Mohammad said the introduction of political groupings onto the town council was a positive development.

"It will allow for more focus and co-ordination on those things which we try to achieve for Keighley.

"The council has already tried not having political groups, and this is a new era.

"Having a group with members singing from the same hymn sheet has got to be beneficial. But individual councillors still have to bring about that change.

"If we are an ineffective council we will have to ask ourselves, 'why are we doing this?'"