A PLAN to sell off a historic house has been shelved – for now.

Kirklees Council had been considering putting Knowl House in Mirfield on the market.

The home – which was given to the people of the town in 1943 – houses the council’s catering and cleaning department.

The 20 staff are due to move to Huddersfield and the council was last month considering selling Knowl House.

But a Kirklees spokesman said yesterday that the historic home would remain in council hands.

“Knowl House is not currently in our plans to be looked at for disposal,’’ he said.

“Catering and cleaning services are relocating to Huddersfield as part of the council’s long-term plan to ensure we get the best out of all council buildings and resources while maintaining high-quality services.

“Under this same programme of work, other services will be relocating to Knowl House.”

Mirfield Conservative Clr Martyn Bolt said he was relieved.

“If this means that long-term jobs will be created in Mirfield, then I welcome that,” he said.

But Clr Bolt accused the Labour-run council of hiring an expensive barrister to see if Kirklees had the right to sell Knowl House.

The home was left to the people of Mirfield by the Walker family in 1943. It passed to Kirklees in 1974 when Mirfield Urban District Council was abolished.

Clr Bolt said: “It is obviously in the council’s mind to sell the house and a barrister’s opinion won’t have come cheap.

“It’s reprehensible that people use 21st Century tactics to overcome 20th Century generosity.”

Clr Bolt added that the Walker family, which has a textile company in the town, would be right to ask for Knowl House back rather than see it sold off.

He said: “I think the family has every right to ask for the property back if Kirklees is not going to use it as intended.”

Labour council leader Clr Mehboob Khan said: “We never said we were going to sell it. I’ve always taken the view that we were moving staff to get better efficiencies.”

But Clr Khan defended the idea of selling historic assets in one area to raise money for the council as a whole.

The Greenhead man said: “The Ramsden Estate was given to the people of Huddersfield. Sales of those buildings have been used to invest in all parts of Kirklees – including Mirfield.

“It wasn’t the case that the money was spent solely within the old boundaries of Huddersfield Borough Council.”