One of Keighley's major environmental eyesores will be flattened in a multi-million pound business park scheme.

The derelict Dean Smith & Grace foundry site at Lawkholme Lane will be demolished and replaced with an industrial and warehouse development. Detailed plans for the 80,140 sq ft development have been submitted by Leeds-based Buzzard Developments, which hopes to start on the first phase of three new units in the summer.

Buzzard director Andrew Foggitt said Keighley's successful regeneration and low interest rates meant the town was an attractive location for small to medium sized companies which preferred to own rather than rent their premises.

The new Trafalgar Park development, on the 4.4 acre brownfield site, will be built in three phases and consist of ten units, ranging from 5,040 to 11,150 sq ft. The units will be for sale and the sole agents will be Keighley firm Hayfield Robinson.

Justin Robinson, of Hayfield Robinson, said Trafalgar Park would be the first sizeable scheme to take place within the town for some years and he expected demand to be strong.

"The planning application will, hopefully, be determined at the end of the month and then demolition will start and the project will crack on," he said. "It will definitely go ahead, subject to planning approval.

"They will be good quality industrial units, built to the latest specification, and there is already a good level of initial interest."

The firm says demand for industrial property from purchasers in the West Yorkshire area is high. The Keighley project follows hard on the heels of Buzzard's first industrial development, completed earlier this year. Trinity Park, on Stanningley Road, Leeds, sold in under six months and Buzzard hopes to repeat this success with its proposed development in Keighley.

Added Mr Foggitt: "The development at Trinity Park generated high levels of interest from small to medium sized companies and investors alike.

"By speculatively building freehold industrial/warehouse units at Trinity Park we were able to bring to the market a product that was not readily available in and around Leeds, and it is our intention to reproduce a similar product at Trafalgar Park."

The foundry at Nelson Works, Lawkholme Lane, pictured below, was occupied by Keighley engineering firm Dean Smith & Grace in the early 1960s and at one time employed 150 people. It closed in 1993 when DS&G folded, but was until two years ago part-occupied by a smaller firm which specialised in the manufacture of manhole covers.

Mr Robinson added: "The site has been derelict for some time and cried out for re-development to meet modern day industrial needs."