A CENTRE at the hub of Bradford’s West Indian community for more than three decades is up for sale.

Management at Checkpoint in Westgate hope to get the full £225,000 asking price so they can invest it in a new home elsewhere.

The stairs leading up to the three floors occupied by the Bradford West Indian Community Centre Association for the past 35 years have become an increasing problem for those who use the facility, located in the city centre.

The centre’s first generation users are now in their mid-60s, with many of them struggling with mobility. Mums with prams and buggies and the disabled are also being disadvantaged by the lack of a ground floor, according to association spokesman Courtney Hay.

Now the Association is searching for a new city centre home to move to once a buyer has been found and the sale goes through.

The decision came after calls from a working group of BWICCA members and local volunteers, said Mr Hay.

“The management is biting the bullet and looking to the future. They have made the decision. They are also looking at modernising the centre’s programme and enhancing it with a major consultation exercise with young black people who they hope will go on to inhabit the new centre for the next 30 plus years,” he added.

BWICCA Chairman George Deane said: “Finding alternative premises for the Centre is something that has been talked about for many years. There has been an ongoing debate amongst our members and the wider community.”

Mr Hay said: “Some people are quite nostalgic about the centre because they grew up here but it’s quite clear that it’s become inappropriate for people who are disabled, mums and toddlers and the elderly because of the stairs. They are being disadvantaged.”

The centre is currently used for social activities from dominoes to dances, for family celebrations and to offer advice services. The Association has a flying freehold arrangement where it owns the three floors above Jeans Junction, with the shop owned by someone else.

Officers from the Association have already met with Bradford Council and its Asset Management department to see what Council-owned city centre buildings might be available to buy.

“We’ve also got estate agents on the lookout. Wherever we go it will still be in the city centre.

“It must have ground floor space and be easily accessed by public transport,” said Mr Hay.