Fresh calls were made today for Government funding agency Yorkshire Forward to back a redevelopment plan for Manningham Mills following a serious fire at the weekend.

About 60 firefighters spent ten hours tackling a blaze in a four-storey building in the centre of the mill on the north side which broke out on Sunday evening.

Fire officers were today still investigating the cause.

But the Reverend George Moffat, chairman of Manning-ham Mills Community Association, said the only way to prevent the complex from falling further into disrepair was to develop it as a centrepiece for the area. He said the latest fire was "not surprising" as a huge part of the historic mill which dominates the Bradford skyline had been dormant for so long.

"That it has remained free from vandalism for so long is a tribute to the hopes and expectations of people who want to see the good use of the building," he said.

"But elements of the community will begin to wonder if anything is going to happen with that place."

The blaze, in a storage area, will not affect the £18 million plans from Urban Splash, run by Manchester-based businessman Tom Bloxham, to redevelop the south wing of the vast complex. The scheme is dependent on £5 million of Yorkshire Forward funding.

Mr Moffat, team rector of Manningham parish churches, said: "Properly developed, Manningham Mills will give hope to Bradford.

"We have been working with Urban Splash to make sure there is good imaginative use made of the south building to make the mill a magnet for people - like Salts Mill.

"But the whole site needs looking at as things are beginning to get a bit unhinged."

Assistant Divisional Officer Peter Evans, who is leading the investigation into the blaze, said initial inquiries had not yet identified the cause.

"There is nothing to think this fire is suspicious but we have not been able to identify the cause yet," he said.