PLANS have been submitted to change the use of a prominent Keighley entertainments venue back to office purposes.

The application to Bradford Council is for Pennington’s Octagon Live, in Bradford Road, Sandbeds.

But the owner of the business, Keighley resident John Pennington, has stressed that despite the new proposals the venue will continue to operate for the foreseeable future.

Mr Pennington said: “Yes, there is an application in for change of use, but there is no written, signed agreement to sell the premises at this stage.

“And we are in touch with another party, who is a potential buyer, who is interested in keeping it as a going concern.

“We do have quite a few advance bookings, including some weddings, and it is our intention to honour these bookings going forward.”

Mr Pennington, who is also a district councillor for Bingley Ward, explained that he had owned the distinctively shaped property for at least seven years, and that it has been functioning as an entertainments venue for about six years.

Octagon House, which is the building’s original name, was built in 1994 and accommodated an electrical components factory until late 2009.

Back in 2010, when the property was disused, Mr Pennington and his wife confirmed that they planned to transform it into a multipurpose community hall.

They said they were particularly looking to provide a place for “poorly catered for” over 30s, at a location ideally situated between Keighley and Bingley.

Prior to the couple buying Octagon House and converting it to its existing use, it had been unsuccessfully marketed for sale as an industrial building.

In 2009 an application for change of use of the 575-square-metre building to a Christian place of worship was successfully made, only for that sale to fall through.

Since becoming Pennington’s Octagon Live, the building has hosted a wide variety of functions, including live music nights, dance nights, comedy and variety shows, public meetings and weddings.

It was also chosen to host the first Keighley Business Awards ceremony five years ago.

The application submitted to Bradford Council last month, (June) explains that the building’s owner is not proposing to make any material changes to the property.

The application states the owner only wants to change the use of the premises back to “Class B1 (Offices)” which it was previously before it became an entertainments venue.