HUDDERSFIELD British National Party members have ‘adopted’ Castle Hill on promotional cards for their political group.
The wallet cards are designed to promote the BNP in the Huddersfield area.
Also, people can put their details on the back and post the card to get an information pack about the party.
About 1,000 of the cards were printed and sent out, some via the BNP magazine Identity.
Robert Walker, the BNP’s Huddersfield organiser, said they chose the hill’s image because it symbolised local community and history, things which are important to local party members.
He added: “When BNP leader Nick Griffin visited a few years ago we had cut-glass items made with Castle Hill on to be raffled.
“They were popular and so we chose it as a motif for the cards. Castle Hill is a focal identity for Huddersfield and we thought we would adopt it.
“I know my local history and what this town’s about and I am passionate about it.”
But the appearance of Huddersfield’s most famous landmark on the BNP cards has met with dismay in some quarters.
Some believe that, as a public landmark, Castle Hill should not be used by any one political party.
Clr Mehboob Khan, the Labour leader of Kirklees Council, said: “The landmark belongs to everyone in the town. It’s like saying Huddersfield is a BNP town.”
The Vicar of Huddersfield, Canon Catherine Ogle, said local landmarks should not be ‘owned’ by any particular group.
She said: “It’s public property and not there to belong to any political party. But people use our church’s image and we can’t tell them not to.”
Mr Walker said adopting the image of Castle Hill was about showing pride in the town. “Castle Hill was waiting for someone to adopt it. If Kirklees said to us you can’t have it and we are taking ownership of it as a symbol then no problem.”
