An expanding Yorkshire Dales dairy has revealed its plans to move into its new premises in the district next year.

Grassington-based Dales Dairies intends to bring its 60-strong workforce to the vacant former Fuzzwire complex next to Marley roundabout, in Keighley.

The company gained planning permission in July 2015 to develop a major new facility at the 11,000 sq m Aireworth Distribution Centre, off Aireworth Road.

Since then, the company has been working towards transferring its entire dairy processing unit to the premises.

Senior development manager Paul Mason this week confirmed the move was still due to go ahead, even though it had been more than two years since planning permission was granted by Bradford Council’s Regulatory and Appeals committee.

He said: “The intention is to move into the premises in 2018.”

Mr Mason said Dales Dairies now owned the complex and was currently letting out part of it to other companies.

Dales Dairies is currently based at Town Head Farm in Grassington.

However, in recent years, business has expanded to the point where the current site had reached capacity.

The company had to find a new base to ensure it could continue to expand.

When the move was announced, Mr Mason said the dairy sourced its milk from 20 local farms, many of which were only a few miles from Keighley.

He said the company had struggled to find employees at the firm’s Grassington location and hoped a Keighley base would provide it with a workforce and “some stable employment for many years to come”.

At the time, Mr Mason said Dales Dairies employed 50 employees, but it aimed to quadruple production and would need to take on new staff to do so.

He said that once the firm bought the site, there was likely to be development phase of between 12 and 18 months.

Dales Dairies is a milk producer, processor and distributor that runs alongside a working dairy farm.

The business was started in 1938 by William Oversby, who ran the farm and started selling milk to the local community.

After 25 years of growth, William passed the reins to his son John, who in the early 1980s began selling milk to other wholesalers within Yorkshire.

David, third generation of the family, took over the business in 2003, adopting the name Town Head Farm Products Ltd. In 2011 the company became known as Dales Dairies.