A FORMER mill in Bradford city centre may soon be transformed into a block of studio flats for the student population, with a "rat infested" plot of land next to it turned into a garden.

Property developer Narinder Sekhon plans to remove the roof of Industry Mills on Sudgen Street, build an extra two floors on the building and convert the property into 139 studio flats.

The building is currently being used as small workshops and storage, but Mr Sekhon said converting it to student flats would breath new life into the area.

A senior Bradford councillor said it was good to see plans to refurbish underused buildings, but there needed to be some caution over the number of student flats built in the city centre.

The mill is 500 yards from the Bradford University campus and falls within the city's Goitside Conservation Area.

A planning application, prepared by Greenshoots Architecture, says: "The site includes a side road/yard which has previously been used for storage and bins which has now become a dumping ground for local inhabitants and is infested by rats. This will be reinstated and made good and be used as a new bin store and residents' garden.

"The proposed works are heavily influenced by the desire and requirement to breath new life into the existing building and location.

"The building's conversion and impact on the surrounding buildings will be a vast improvement on the existing form."

The flats would be en-suite and the plans also involve an on-site gym, study area and common room.

Bradford Council aims to decide on the application by June.

Councillor Val Slater, the executive member for planning and housing at the local authority, said: "It is always good to see unused or under used buildings being brought back into use. We will have to look closely at the details of this application and how good the accommodation will be, because students deserve good places to live."

However, she pointed out there had been a lot of other applications for student flats in the city centre and referred to the fact that Trivelles Hotels and Resorts, which run student accommodation Sunbridge Halls, was unable to fill the building, and is now planning to convert several floors of those halls into a budget hotel.

She added "I know the University and College are wanting to expand, but I wonder if there should be a limit on the amount of student accommodation that is provided in the city."

Early next month a Government planning inspector will decide on another major student flat development in the city.

In July Castlebrook Properties lodged an appeal against Bradford Council's decision to refuse plans for a multi storey block of 263 student flats behind the former Odeon building. Inspectors visited the site late last month and are expected to decide on the appeal in April.