A NEW £10.4 million extra care and dementia unit will be completed this month amid residents’ anger at how long the work has taken.

The 84,000 sq ft Abbeyfield Society development, called The Dales, on the former Bingley hospital site in Fernbank Drive, will provide 47 one and two bedroom extra care apartments, a 30-bed specialist dementia centre and a day care centre.

The work is being carried out by charitable organisation The Abbeyfield Society and Leeds-based Bardsley Construction.

The development covers seven floors and features communal facilities for residents including a hair and beauty salon, laundry and restaurant. The development is expected to create around 60 jobs.

Planning permission was approved by Bradford Council in 2013. Work started the following year and was originally due to be completed in June 2016.

An Abbeyfield Society spokesman said a range of factors have “contributed to prolonging the build time” but work is set to be completed this month.

Arthur Keown, 52, of Fernbank Drive, Bingley, says residents have been frustrated about the disruptive nature of the work. He said: “Everyone in the area is sick to the back teeth of the slowness of the work. It should have been finished in June 2016, but work is still going on. It has just been going on for far longer than we were told. We are fed up with it. It’s frustrating really. We are bearing the brunt of it.”

Councillor John Pennington (Con, Bingley) said: “It would have been much better to have had it finished before now. Residents have been concerned that the work has stopped. It is a facility we need. Sometimes these things take longer than they should have. The roof is on and I understand they have got to do the fit out now.”

Richard Virr, Abbeyfield Society’s director of development, said: “Everyone at Abbeyfield involved with the Fernbank Drive project is frustrated that our new home in Bingley is not yet open. It has been a challenging project on a difficult site and a range of factors have contributed to prolonging the build time. Abbeyfield appreciates the frustration to local residents and thanks them for their patience. We expect handover this month and look forward to opening this home which will provide much-needed affordable housing and care to older people in Bingley.”