APPROVAL has been granted for an eyesore former Keighley pub to be turned into a day nursery.

Bradford Council has given Chartback Limited planning permission to convert the Braithwaite Tavern, derelict for around nine years, into a nursery with a flat above it.

Residents and councillors have been calling for something to be done about the building, which has become a magnet for anti-social behaviour and flytipping.

The company had told the council that although no operator had yet been identified to run the nursery, the business, in Braithwaite Avenue, could create up to 18 jobs and cater for more than 60 under fives.

Approving the application, planning officers said: “The proposed use would bring this redundant and semi-derelict building back into use to provide a service for the local community and employment opportunities.”

The nursery will have separate areas for babies under two and for two to five-year-olds.

A three-bedroom apartment will be built on the building’s upper floor.