A FORMER industrial site in Keighley – originally earmarked for a £30 million leisure, housing and business complex – has been sold.

Turner Developments this week announced they had bought the six-acre former Worthington plc site off Dalton Lane.

The company plans to create a business park on the former Chatsworth Works site incorporating a mix of high-quality manufacturing and warehouse property.

Sizes of the proposed units will range from 1,000 sq ft to 60,000 sq ft, though the company will also consider one massive single building up to 150,000 sq ft.

The site, which lies behind Keighley Fire Station, was until 2011 home to the 36 employees of West Yorkshire Spinners.

After the company moved to new premises in Royd Ings, developers the Worthington Group unveiled plans to build a £30 complex incorporating a hotel, cinema, retail outlets, housing and industrial units.

The existing factory building was demolished, but the project faltered after a rival company received planning permission to build the proposed Worth Valley Shopping Centre – also including a cinema – in East Parade.

Turner this week said it is working on the new project with Bradford Council, intending to deliver a much-needed business park within the industrial heart of the Aire Valley.

The project came on the back of two successful industrial developments in Royd Ings Avenue – near Cougar Park – at the former Magnet Joinery site.

Turner refurbished more than 500,000 sq ft of former Magnet buildings to create new space for several major Aire Valley businesses.

Mike Atkinson, of agents Atkinson Associates, said: “We identified a need for better quality industrial buildings in Keighley and the surrounding areas to replace the tired stock that many thriving and successful businesses occupy. Interest for new buildings on the site has already been encouraging."

Clllr Susan Hinchcliffe, the council’s portfolio holder for employment skills and culture, said “We will be working with the developer during the next three months to look at proposals to redevelop the site."