KIRKLEES Council's leader has pledged to help find a suitable site for a children's hospice.

Clr Kath Pinnock gave an emphatic `Yes' when she was quizzed at a full council meeting.

Her promise came after proposals were blocked last week for a green belt site off Old Lindley Road.

It was a bitter blow to West Yorkshire's Forget-Me-Not Trust, which has raised £500,000 for its project.

Tory councillor Tony Brice called for a solid commitment from the council to find other land. The hospice was much needed, he said.

* FIFTY years of twinning with Besancon is to be marked with the Freedom of Kirklees for the French town.

The rare honour was confirmed at a meeting of Kirklees Council. A special ceremony will be held in October to grant the award to Besancon's Mayor.

He will travel to Huddersfield to accept the Freedom on behalf of his town's citizens.

Clr Mary Harkin, the Mayor of Kirklees, said it was a recognition of half-a-century since the former borough of Huddersfield began the link.