BRADFORD currently has no large, high-quality office space in the city centre to offer if a businesses wanted to locate there.

A committee of councillors was told about the lack of so-called 'grade A office space' during a discussion about the proposed One City Park development - which has been in the pipeline for years, but now may finally be moving forward.

The development of office buildings, totalling 95,000 square foot, on the site of the former Tyrls Police Station, was first revealed in 2014.

The project has since stalled, and the land has been turned into a temporary garden.

But a new report into the project, that could bring 450 jobs to the city centre, revealed that Bradford Council will be searching over the summer for a development partner that will be able to meet the scheme’s targeted 2021 completion date.

Later this month, the Council will issue a notice in the Official Journal of the European Union of its intentions to tender for a partner to develop the scheme alongside.

It will award a contract for the development next April, and construction is expected to start in April 2020.

On Tuesday evening, the development was discussed by the Council's Regeneration and Environment Scrutiny Committee.

The Council had bought the vacant police station for a nominal £1 from the Homes and Communities Agency in 2013, and secured outline planning consent for the offices.

It was awarded a grant of £5.2 million from the West Yorkshire Combined Authority to prepare and market the site for the office development. The grant was awarded on the basis that the construction of the scheme will be completed by the end of March 2021. So far £400,000 has been spent on the site.

Simon Woodhurst, regeneration development manager for the Council, told the committee that when the Council first took on the site it was a difficult time for businesses, many of which were still recovering from the financial crisis.

But he said the time was now right for the development to go ahead, and said interest had been expressed in the scheme.

He said the "selling point" of the development was its central location, and prime spot overlooking the mirror pool. He added: "I'm encouraged by the amount of interest out there. For the first time in a long time, Bradford is seen as a good opportunity for businesses. We should get some very good responses to this."

Councillor David Heseltine (Cons, Bingley) asked: "Have we been monitoring what office space we already have in Bradford? Have people been knocking at our door asking if there is x square foot of space available?"

The committee was told that although there were numerous small to mid sized office spaces vacant in the city centre, they were often unsuitable for large companies.

Tina Parry told the committee the largest high quality space currently available was 10,000 square foot in Ambler Mill, off Canal Road.

She added: "If an enquiry came in to the Council for 20,000 square foot of good, quality office space in the city centre, we would have nothing to offer them."

Mr Woodhurst added: "We haven't had any top office space available in the city centre for years. People want that grade A office space that is fit for purpose, and they want it straight away. Unless we can say we have that space and it will be ready to move into in a few months time they'll start looking elsewhere.

"Attracting business to your city is a competition, but at the moment for Bradford it isn't a competition. People say to us 'we like the city, we like the people, but if you can't find us somewhere then we can't come here."