VOTERS in the Castle Hill area of Huddersfield are to stay put in the same electoral ward.

They will remain in Almondbury after proposals to shift them into Newsome were dropped.

A 181-name petition opposed the transfer bid. Protesters said the move would make no sense because of the Castle Hill area's historic ties with Almondbury.

Now the Boundary Commission for England has climbed down in its final decision.

A commission spokes- man said comments regarding the historical and community links with Almondbury had been noted and accepted.

A total of 160 electors in Castle Hill are affected by the decision.

The ruling came as boundary officials confirmed a shake-up of the political map in Kirklees.

The number of councillors will be cut from 72 to 69 and the number of wards to 23 - one fewer than now.

Changes will come into operation next June when all Kirklees Council seats are up for grabs. Normally, a third of Kirklees councillors are up for re-election each year.

A boundary plan was issued last year when public comments were sought.

The final version confirms that Mirfield will be reunited in one ward.

Mirfield Tory Clr Martyn Bolt welcomed the move as long overdue.

He said: "For years many who see themselves as Mirfield people have been exiled into Dewsbury."

The Boundary Commission said it was dropping plans to change the name of Birstall and Birkenshaw ward to Oakwell.

One new ward, based on Deighton and Fartown, will be called Ashbrow. Another - combining Birkby, Marsh, Edgerton and Paddock - gets the name Greenhead.

Boundary chiefs ordered the review in a bid to equalise the number of people living in each ward.

At the moment, the largest ward has more than 14,000 electors and the smallest 8,500.