A £25 million plan to build light industrial units in the heart of Keighley has been unveiled.

This week it was confirmed that permission is being sought for the first phase of the development behind Bradford Council's waste depot at Royd Ings.

The scheme has been submitted by Lakeside Developments, set up two years ago by three local businessmen who say they were "frustrated by the chronic shortage of suitable land" for industrial development in Keighley.

Company chairman Howard Gibson, who formed Aerovac Systems in Keighley in 1978, which was sold in 2000 in a multi-million pound deal to a UK plc, said: "Two of us had personal experience of developing a light engineering business only to be faced with the choice of either ceasing expansion or re-locating outside the area.

"Success is rewarded by eviction. We are now determined that businesses like ours and the jobs they provide can remain in our home town."

The other directors are Bill Poole, founding partner of chartered surveyors McManus & Poole, in practice in Keighley, and the Aire Valley for over 27 years, and Russell Gibson, who was joint general manager of Aerovac and managing director of Vacform Design. He has now launched a new company, Autoclaves, which supplies the aerospace and woodworking industries.

Lakeside has spent £600,000 acquiring land and carrying out research including £30,000 on flood risk assessments. The first phase is on land which was re-scheduled as washland after the floods in 2000.

Mr Gibson said: "Like everyone living locally, we want to be sure that any new development does nothing to add to the risk of flooding.

"We have had extensive discussions with the Environment Agency and have adopted a solution which we are confident will not exacerbate the situation and will slightly improve it."

Full report and plan details on pages 6-7 of our Let's Talk Business supplement