Arson warning after delays to mill sale deal

Concerns have been raised about delays to the sale of a Grade II-listed Victorian mill that has been hit by recurrent arson attacks.

Community group Future Transformation launched a bid to buy Dalton Mills in Keighley more than a year ago but a deal has not been reached.

The site is ownerless after the Crown Estate took possession of it under an ancient property law called escheat.

Keighley Civic Society chair Emmerson Walgrove said the delay had left the building "vulnerable" to more deliberate fire and trespass incidents.

He said: "We're now in 2026, and it seems we're being held to ransom by a very outdated bit of legislation which was done in William the Conqueror's time.

"It cannot continue. We have somebody who is willing, or an organisation that is willing, to take it on.

"Somewhere along the line the Crown Estate seems to be putting the hurdles up against it. It's time they look at moving this forward."

In 2024 the Crown Estate took legal responsibility for the building under escheat after the owner gave up his rights to it when he went bankrupt and a restoration project collapsed.

There have been numerous fires, most believed to be deliberate, since the 2022 blaze which destroyed the main building.

In 2024 two teenagers were found guilty of starting that fire but they are still waiting to be sentenced.

Since January 2025, when not-for-profit group Future Transformation lodged an official bid with the Crown Estate, the West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service has been called out 16 times to the site. Twelve were recorded as deliberate fires.

A spokesperson for the Crown Estate said with any land subject to escheat its only involvement was to effect a sale or transfer to a new owner.

The spokesperson said: "With Dalton Mills specifically, we have been working towards effecting a disposal of the property to Future Transformation but, in this instance, the sale process has been delayed by issues beyond our control.

"These issues stem from a legal charge over the property concerning the former owner's debts which the trustee in bankruptcy is unwilling to release."

The spokesperson added that escheat was "a historic and incredibly complex legal construct".

They added: "The Law Commission have included a review of ownerless land and escheat in their latest programme of works, which we fully support."

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