Contractors will begin work in three weeks' time on a £12 million office complex which will bring more than a hundred jobs to Bradford.

Landmark Development Project Ltd and revenue estates management firm Mapeley have negotiated a 15-year lease with the Inland Revenue for the flagship building at Bradford Interchange.

The Inland Revenue will lease more than 75 per cent of the space in the purpose-built city centre call centre which is located next to Metrochange House and the Abbey National building. The work is expected to be finished in autumn.

The building will house about 400 workers, including 230 who will transfer from the existing Income Tax headquarters next to Forster Square railway station.

The rest are expected to be new jobs for a new national network of Inland Revenue offices.

Landmarks managing director Richard Morton said: "We are delighted to have finalised this deal with the Inland Revenue.

"The building will be one of the most modern in the city, both in terms of external appearance and its internal specification.

"The building has been specifically designed to have more space than the Inland Revenue require so speculative space can now be marketed to other city centre occupiers."

Paul Tillyer, Bradford branch secretary for the Public & Commercial Services Union, said: "We welcome the news that the contracts have been exchanged for the proposed call centre building.

"The union have been involved in the project from the very early stages and are pleased that it is to go ahead as planned.

"This is good news for Bradford and district as 170 new jobs are being created in the city centre with excellent links to the public transport network.

''We will continue to work with the Revenue to ensure that these are good quality jobs in a decent working environment."

Landmark is involved with a number of key schemes in Bradford, including the redevelopment of Treadwell's Mill in Little Germany for apartments.