Part of the former site of Firths Carpets, in Bailiff Bridge - where around 100 people were recently made redundant - has been sold to a property developer.

The Clifton Mills complex on the corner of Birkby Road and Bradford Road has been bought by Hull-based Cornelius Parish Ltd.

The site was put on the market 12 months ago by Interface Europe Ltd, which bought Firths in 1997. Stock and equipment which belonged to Firths was moved out of the building, which is now ready to be inhabited by the new company.

The sum required to buy the mill was reportedly £1.75 million. It is not yet known whether Cornelius Parish Ltd intend to develop the site or leave it as it is.

Firths Carpets spokeswoman, Amanda Farrell, said Interface still owned two other buildings in Bailiff Bridge - the mill opposite and the Victoria Mills site which comprises warehouses in Victoria Road.

Ms Farrell said a legal problem regarding the ownership of a bridge connecting the two sites held up the sale.

Plans for the business came to an abrupt halt when Interface announced in November that the Firths operation in Bailiff Bridge would cease unless a buyer could be found for the company. Interface announced it wanted to focus on the carpet tile business and not the broadloom market, which has made the Firths name famous worldwide. Around 100 employees were made redundant and finished before Christmas, and a steady scaling down of operations on the site has begun.

"We are continuing the manufacturing of outstanding contracts and we have work to keep us going until March or April," said Ms Farrell. "The situation may arise that we have work to take us even further into the year, but it is difficult to say."

When the company eventually folds, 270 jobs will have been lost. Ms Farrell said there are three companies interested in buying equipment from the Firths site.

"Of those three, no-one is looking to buy Firths as a going concern," she added.