PLANS to turn an "imposing" former Sunday school in Keighley into flats have been refused.

A planning application to convert the building in Temple Street was submitted to Bradford Council by Shiv Property Management earlier this year.

It would have seen the ground floor of the building, which is in the Keighley Town Centre Conservation Area, converted from a bathroom showroom into 12 flats.

The upper floors of the building have previously been converted to residential use.

However, planning officers at Bradford Council have refused the scheme due to concerns about parking.

The property is next to a Grade II listed former chapel.

Highways officers pointed out that there is currently a small, unauthorised car park to the front of the building that is subject to an enforcement notice. An application for this car park was refused in 2017 over concerns it would lead to a loss of on-street parking in Temple Street.

The car park had been created when a wall at the front of the property was knocked down and conservation officers said the loss of this wall “has caused significant harm to the street scene, the setting of the listed building and the conservation area.”

Officers refused the application due to the parking concerns, a lack of affordable housing in the scheme and the damage caused by removing the wall.