Bradford villagers fighting a proposed supermarket are celebrating after the plans were withdrawn.

United Co-operatives had submitted applications to Bradford Council to demolish the former Clayton Middle School on John Street and build a superstore. But residents were up-in-arms over the scheme, saying the building should not be demolished and access to the site was inadequate. The plans detailed seven commercial vehicle movements per day and 33 each week.

Now the firm has decided to cancel the planned development of the site.

A United Co-operatives spokesman said: "We have withdrawn our previous application to convert the former Clayton Middle School into a Food Market after taking into account public feedback, but we are committed to the Clayton area and will continue to look for more suitable premises there."

Resident John Naylor, a member of an action group opposing the plan, said: "If you go about it in the right way you can be heard. Sometimes you feel that big businesses are always going to succeed, whereas in this case we got them to re-think."

He said the villagers were never against the supermarket chain, just the redevelopment of that particular site.

Mr Naylor said they were now eager to see the building converted for another use, such as homes.

Councillor Elaine Byrom (Con, Clayton) said as well as the opposition from residents, English Heritage had been against demolishing the school, which lies in a Conservation Area.

She said all three ward councillors had written a letter of objection to the scheme. "It was an unsuitable site, bang in the middle of a residential area and the highways situation would have been untenable," she said.

"We should not be looking to put anything where it angers the people who are already living there."

Coun Byrom said they would welcome another application if the site was appropriate. "If the Co-op come back with something that is reasonable, it's an asset to the village," she said.