A doctors' practice in Keighley has moved one step closer towards building a new surgery.

Kilmeny Surgery has been offered the chance to buy the former Long Lee First School from Bradford Council so it can develop a new medical centre on the site.

It is now in the process of submitting a planning application for consideration by Keighley planning committee.

The practice says if the development receives the green light it will be able to provide a wider range of services for patients.

Earlier this year staff and patients sent a 1,000-name petition urging the council to sell the site to the surgery rather than for housing development.

Agent Paul Lingard, acting on behalf of the surgery, said the deal would be signed with Bradford Council if planning permission for the site was approved.

"We were in a position where the local authority was going to sell the site for residential development but that application was turned down by the local authority, which has agreed to sell the site to Kilmeny," he said.

"The terms have been agreed and our offer is subject to planning consent.

"The existing school buildings will be demolished and a totally new health centre will be constructed that will be many times the size of the existing one."

The proposed building is a part one-storey and part two-storey building with substantial on-site parking.

Mr Lingard said that if the application was granted building work could start within the next six months.

Kilmeny, which has another practice in Ingrow, has been searching for new premises for several years.

Staff say the Long Lee Lane bungalow where the surgery is currently based is too cramped.

If the new centre does receive the go-ahead the current surgery building will be sold. The medical practice first showed an interest in the former school site in Long Lee Lane last year, with the council instead looking to sell the land to a property developer.

However, a planning application to convert the site into housing was rejected by Keighley planning committee last autumn due to concerns about the increase in traffic using Coney Lane bridge.