SCAFFOLDING is going up around the former Odeon building, as work to make the building safe enters its next phase.

Bradford Council is clearing the old cinema and carrying out essential repairs, before it decides whether a group's plans to turn the landmark into a new live music venue are viable.

The £1.32 million scheme is being funded by the Government's Homes and Communities Agency, as part of the deal which saw it sell the building to the council for £1.

Now scaffolding is being put up around the fly tower at the rear of the building, to allow workers to repair a hole in the roof which is letting a lot of water into the building.

Project manager Andy Grant said: "There is a big hole in the roof. We have to scaffold it up and repair it just to stop the rain coming in, because it is letting a lot of water into the building."

Mr Grant said similar roof repairs would be done under one of the building's eye-catching domes.

The scheme of work also includes repairs to a Victorian culvert for the Bradford Beck, which runs through the site.

Mr Grant said specialist contractors were due to start work on the beck on Monday, November 10.

Wooden hoardings are now in place across the back of the site.

Other specialists cleared out asbestos earlier this year, and work to clear rubble and old cinema seats from the building finished this week.

After Christmas, steelworkers will be brought in for another painstaking project - replacing corroding metal ring beams which hold up the building's two domes.

Bradford Live is the only group now in the running to breathe new life into the building.

Director Lee Craven said on Thursday the Bradford Live team handed in a full breakdown of their plans to senior council officers, and gave a presentation.

He said: "It is all held together in one big document, over 300 pages long, which we wheeled to the council."

The final decision is expected to be taken by councillors on the Executive in early December.

If the plans get the go-ahead, the building could be handed over to Bradford Live in spring 2015.

But Mr Craven added a note of caution, saying: "If it gets the green light in December, it doesn't mean the Odeon will definitely happen."

Mr Craven said his team also needed to do more work to secure the full funding for the project.