A housing development on the site of a demolished leisure centre has been approved by Bradford Council.

Raja Hussain had applied to build four houses at the former Game On Leisure Centre on Birch Lane, West Bowling, a snooker hall that was demolished following an arson in 2011.

Neighbours had objected to the plans, saying the four houses would create traffic and parking problems, but planning officers said the traffic to the homes would be less than when the site was a snooker hall.

Planning officer Amin Ibrar approved the application earlier this week, saying: “The proposed residential use of the site would remove this vacant parcel of land preventing opportunities for anti-social behaviour and will also introduce a significantly less harmful use into this predominantly residential area than the former snooker hall/leisure centre use.”