URGENT talks are being called for to discuss the problem of burglars travelling to Ilkley.

Cllr Mike Ridgway wants the issue to be put on the agenda of next week’s town council meeting. And he is also asking that Inspector Khalid Khan of the Keighley Neighbourhood Policing Team should attend to explain attempts to tackle the problem.

Cllr Ridgway urged the public to come along to the meeting on Monday to make their concerns known.

He is speaking out in the wake of comments made by Insp Khan at Bradford Council’s Keighley Area Committee when he described how burglars are travelling from as far as Manchester and Lancashire to target homes in Ilkley,

Cllr Ridgway said he had asked for the matter to be discussed with urgency so that the town council could give its full commitment to supporting the police.

He added: “The matter has already been raised with me by a number of concerned residents of Ilkley who want an explanation from the police about controlling this very serious situation.It is all very well the police identifying a problem but we want to know what they are going to do about it to protect us as residents in addition to our property and personal assets’.

He stressed: “It is a very serious situation and residents are worried and need re-assurance that something is happening.”

Insp Khan told the area committee the town had attracted burglars from beyond Yorkshire over the last 12 months.

He said: “There are local burglars and what we call travelling burglars. I like to think we have a good handle on the local burglars, and we know who they are. But there are travelling burglars as well. In Ilkley a lot of the burglaries are committed by people who come from as far as Lancashire and Manchester. Burglars from Bradford travel there too. There are obviously some very nice homes in Ilkley, Burglars will steal cars, jewellery and other goods.

“We have operations in place to tackle these burglars. Along with traffic officers we have been out as far as Rotherham to pursue burglars suspects. We’re relentless. When we do have evidence we will do all we can to arrest these suspects.”