Plans to move Bradford Magistrates’ Court to make way for a new business district have been put on hold due to a lack of funds, Bradford Council’s regeneration boss has revealed.

Instead the Council will plough £4.9m into creating new cells for the courthouse, so that the existing cells which are housed under the remainder of the old police station can be demolished.

Once the rest of The Tyrls has been demolished, the site will be cleared ready for a private developer to take on the prime location overlooking the City Park and create 100,000 sq ft of office space, cafes and bars – the beginnings of a long-awaited business district.

Councillor David Green, the Council’s executive member with responsibility for regeneration, told the Telegraph & Argus that the site was already attracting “tentative inquiries” from potential developers.

He said: “Negotiations are at a very early stage with the court service about relocating the cells. Clearly we need to come up with options that will meet the needs of the magistrates’ court in providing safe and secure access to any cells.

“It’s a jigsaw and we have got to come to an agreement with the court and the Ministry of Justice so that we can provide the new cells before any demolition of the police station takes place.

“When we have got to a position where those pieces of the jigsaw are in place, then we can begin talking to private sector developers and end users.”

Coun Green went on to say that the original blueprint for a “business forest” alongside City Park was for two or three blocks of office development. This would require the magistrates’ court to move to a new location next to the existing crown and county court complex and create a Justice Quarter.

But with the Government showing “no inclination” to fund the scheme, including turning down the Council’s initial £35 million bid to the Regional Growth Fund in April, the courthouse will stay where it is for the moment, Coun Green said.

The focus has then turned to redeveloping the police station site first.

Permission has already been granted for the former police headquarters and magistrates’ court buildings to be demolished to make way for a business district. Approximately half of the police station was knocked down in February 2010 to allow the City Park project to commence.

A spokesman for Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service said: “HMCTS will work with Bradford Council to identify options for funding the relocation of Bradford Magistrates' Court.”

e-mail: jo.winrow@telegraphandargus.co.uk