Shipley MP Philip Davies is urging new investors to come to Bingley following the shock news that Sainsbury’s has scrapped plans for a town centre store.

He had pressed the supermarket giant for a public decision to end three years of uncertainty over the old Bradford & Bingley headquarters.

“Although it is disappointing that Sainsbury’s will not be building a store in Bingley, the priority now is to see the site sold as soon as possible so that someone else can develop the site in a way which is crucial to the town centre,” said Mr Davies (Con, Shipley).

“This was something I pressed Sainsbury’s on and it was a message they clearly understood.”

The B&B building is set to be demolished in January and Mr Davies’s sense of urgency is shared across the town.

The Rev Beverley Mason, of All Saints Church, Main Street, organised a special service last month to pray for an economic boost for Bingley shopkeepers and traders.

“Personally, I am thankful that at least a decision has been taken and feel that the old building cast a shadow over the town,” she said yesterday.

“However, what we really what to avoid is swapping that for a great big hole.

“We don’t just want an empty landscape there – this needs to be handled positively and constructively,” Mrs Mason said.

Young entrepreneur Jordan Franz runs the Bingley Grillhouse bar and restaurant and is just celebrating his first year of business.

Lifelong Eldwick resident Mr Franz, 29, said he had been looking forward to having a Sainsbury’s on the B&B site.

“But if it’s a Tesco, that’ll be just as good,” he said.

“Just so long as it doesn’t just go for residential – that would just be a waste of time,” Mr Franz said.

“I think what it really needs is a big company to come in there with a proper workforce of a couple of hundred people.

“Losing all the Bradford & Bingley workers hit a lot of the town’s businesses very badly,” he said.

Bingley Civic Trust’s vice-chairman Terry Brown said the town needed something “really sensible”.

“We’ve got Aldi hopefully coming in, so why not have someone like Waitrose? They haven’t got a store anywhere in the area and people would travel to it,” Mr Brown added.

“Also, the old building’s a horror and hopefully the town can have a say in what anything new will look like.

“It needs to be something that both enhances the area and matches the town. We want Bingley to be revived,” Mr Brown said.