THE SITE of a now-demolished Bradford pub could soon house a new care home, if planners agree to the scheme.

The Bell Dean pub in Allerton was flattened last year and now a care company wants to build a six-bedroom specialist home with a two-bedroom annexe in its place.

The firm behind the scheme is Horizon Healthcare Homes, which provides housing and support for adults with learning difficulties and complex needs in the north of England

The company says the move would create the equivalent of 22 full-time jobs.

It's not the first time Horizon Healthcare has found a new use for a vacant pub site in Bradford.

In 2013, it opened the £750,000 Beckside Lodge on the site of the flattened Cap & Bells on Cooper Lane, Buttershaw, creating 20 jobs.

Horizon Healthcare also runs three similar care homes in Kirklees and one in Leeds.

Under the latest scheme, a single-storey building would be constructed to create a six-bed care home on the footprint of the old pub in Bell Dean Road, while a separate self-contained two-bed annexe would be built on the pub car park.

A statement from the applicants to planners says: "The proposals will help foster community spirit by providing excellent care to Bradford residents, using locally employed staff in a new building of a high design standard in a safe and secure environment."

It says this is in contrast to the former derelict pub, which had "attracted significant levels of anti-social behaviour".

The statement says the site would be enclosed by 1m-high railings and, in part, a 1.8m timber fence.

It says: "The fencing is an essential requirement of the proposals to secure the garden areas because of the vulnerability of residents and to help minimise the risk of intrusion.

"The planting proposed between the fencing and footpath will help soften the appearance of the fence, which will sit comfortably within the street scene without appearing unduly dominant."

But one neighbour, Antonio Frani, has objected to this fence, saying it could stop his household from seeing along the road when coming out of their driveway, and has asked whether Horizon Healthcare would consider fitting 1m railings here instead.

A public consultation on the scheme ends on Friday and planners are due to make a decision by March 1.