A RENEWED effort to establish a youth council for Keighley has been brought before Keighley Town Council.

The proposal was put forward by Cllr Ian Dermondy, who argued it would be a good way to involve young people in the democratic process.

However, councillors who were part of a much earlier attempt to set up such a body struck a note of caution.

Cllr Kathrine Roberts said: "I was chairman of the last youth council we had a long time ago. It lasted four months and it was a fiasco.

"We had a police officer come to give a talk for the young people. She was asking them questions but they just talked over her. It was awful.

"We tried to pull it together but it was pointless. In the end, we had to pack it in. If it can be done more successfully, then fair enough."

Cllr Andrea Walker also said the previous version of the youth council had not worked well, but noted this was about a decade ago, so did not prevent the town council from trying again.

Cllr Michael Westerman pointed out there is already a Bradford district youth council operating, which involves youngsters from the Keighley area.

Outlining why a new youth council could prove beneficial, Cllr Dermondy said: "These councils represent the views of young people, and they are run by young people for young people.

"It gives them a chance to engage with the decision makers. At the moment, there are 620 young councils across the UK, which work with all levels of local government. It's not going to happen overnight but we need to give it a go."

Councillors accepted his recommendation to pass the matter onto their policies and governance committee, which will investigate it in more detail.