A LONG delayed scheme to redevelop the site of an historic mill in the centre of Bradford looks to finally have been brought back to life.

Hill and Standard has started promoting a substantial development called The City Park, on the former site of Thompson Mills, off Thornton Road and Tetley Street.

It comprises 858 one bed flats spread over eight floors, along with a ground floor shop, roof terrace, a gym and a martial arts studio.

Thompson Mill was the second oldest in Bradford but had to be demolished after the building was devastated by fire in 2011 and the site has remained empty since.

Plans for a student development on the site date back more than 13 years, with planning permission first being granted in 2003.

But the site has changed hands several times and construction has never started, leaving a huge, empty plot of prime land between Sunbridge Road and Thornton Road.

Now Hill & Standard, a company behind a number of student developments throughout the country, has started promoting the development, saying it is "in an area primed for massive regeneration".

The City Park will be its biggest student development to date.

The company has also put up hoardings around the site, next to The Lord Clyde pub, which will be dwarfed by the development once it is complete.

A video on the company's website shows an artist's impression of the building, comprised of four wings, varying in height between five and eight stories, surrounding a central communal courtyard space.

It states: "It is anticipated that ongoing developments will deliver further student accommodation and attract occupiers from the retail, health sickness and private nursery sector."

A timetable for the development has yet to be revealed.

This area of the city centre, near the University of Bradford and Bradford College, has been earmarked as the Learning Quarter in the city's regeneration plans. Councillor Val Slater, executive for regeneration on Bradford Council, said: " We welcome the increasing number of developments in the city centre, which have been part of the council's aspirations for a Learning Quarter in that area of the city.

"We know that both the college and the university are encouraging more and more students to take up places there.

"News that this is finally happening is brilliant for the city and reinforces the belief that with Broadway now up and running then we'd get more development actually happening rather than developers just being interested.

"It is a huge piece of land that has needed developing for a number of years."

Councillor Nazam Azam (Lab, City) said: "This is excellent news.

"Any development so close to the city centre is great news, it all forms part of the regeneration of the city. I just hope the developers can start as soon as possible. It seems like the whole scheme has been on/off for a while so it will be great to see it go ahead."

Thompson Mill, which dated back to about 1801, was the second oldest mill in Bradford until it was engulfed by fire in October 2011.

The building, which had been unoccupied for years beforehand, was so damaged it had to be pulled down.