FLOODING concerns have been raised over the future use of a piece of land in Silsden that is up for auction.

District and town councillor Adrian Naylor says potential buyers of the site off Keighley Road must think carefully what they will do with it.

The strip of field alongside Silsden Beck, next to the Aldi supermarket, is due to be auctioned by Pugh this month with a guide price of £38,000.

In the past, the 1.3-acre has been used as grazing for a shire horse.

Cllr Naylor said grazing was probably the only suitable use the site, but in that case the asking price was too much.

He said: "I'm not sure what else a potential purchaser could use it for. I'm concerned that any new building would contribute to flooding.

"This is an area that floods, but it doesn't currently affect anyone. If a flood defence was put here, where would the water go?"

"We are seeing a lot of houses on both sides of the beck which is channelling more water into the beck. It would be nice to see this site left as a green strip."

Cllr Naylor has previously warned about flooding dangers caused by several hundred houses proposed for sites on the Steeton side of Silsden. He fears that water run-off from the built-over fields will have nowhere else to go but the beck.

The Boxing Date 2015 floods damaged a wall on Keighley Road and collapsed an adjacent bridge over the beck.

Construction work in the area in recent years has included the Aldi supermarket and, across Keighley Road, a new estate currently being built by Harron Homes. Housing projects have also been announced for land on nearby Sykes Lane and Belton Road.