WORK TO transform Keighley’s historic Victoria Hotel into flats and shops could begin within weeks.

But the total transformation of the building at the bottom of Cavendish Street – derelict for the past five years – may not be complete until 2019.

Harendra Patel, owner of the former pub, music venue and nightspot, this week revealed exclusively to the Keighley News his hoped-for timetable to carry out the project.

He said his planned programme – subject to gaining loans to fund the work – would begin with major roof repairs then extend to ground floor shops and finally the upstairs apartments.

News of progress on the long-awaited conversion scheme was this week welcomed by town centre politicians and business leaders.

Mr Patel’s company Cavendish Keighley Properties Ltd bought the Victoria Hotel in 2012, several months after it closed as a pub.

In 2015, the company gained planning permission to convert the building into four ground-floor shops and nine self-contained apartments above, subject to conditions to ensure the distinctive Victorian frontage remains.

Mr Patel this week said: “The roof will be a total refurbishment. We’re in the process of getting quotes. The next stage will be the shops.

“We’re going to start with one shop, than the other two, then conversion of the flats. We’d like to do the work as quickly as possible but it’s likely to be over the next couple of years.

District councillor Abid Hussain, whose Keighley’s Central ward includes the building, was please work was due to begin after five years, adding: “This is a gateway to the town centre, but it’s looking like a ghost space.”

Fellow Keighley Central councillor Khadim Hussain said the news was positive, even though the work would be done in stages.

He said: “Even though the flats are the last part of the project, people living there will make the town a more vibrant place.”

Cllr Zafar Ali, who also represents Keighley Central ward, welcomed the work, but urged Mr Patel to consult local people on what shops they would like to see in the ground-floor units before he decided on tenants.

Keighley Central ward Graham Benn, chairman of Keighley BID (Business Improvement District) and the boss of DIY Solutions, also on Cavendish Street, said it would be good to have more shops on the street.

He added: “Anything that makes Cavendish Street look more attractive is welcome. Being on the corner the building can be off-putting to look at, at the moment.”