NEW images from inside Bradford's Odeon reveal how the 1960s cinema partitions are being stripped out of the dilapidated building ahead of its transformation into a live music venue.

Developer Bradford Live, the group behind the redevelopment of the 1930s building, have released fresh pictures showing progress in the stripping-out works which began at the landmark city centre site at the beginning of the year.

Demolition contractors are on site to take out the partitions, ceilings and floors that were installed when the building was split into a multi-screen cinema.

Bradford Live's Lee Craven told the Telegraph & Argus that as the layers were stripped away it was fantastic to see the auditorium space they will have to work with.

He said: "We've been working in Odeon 2, which is the biggest of the cinema screens.

"The front floor has been taken out and this has become a drop for rubble down to the auditorium floor below.

"We have also taken out the ceiling at the back of Odeon 2 and are working towards the front.

"In Odeon 1 the ceiling has gone now, and the huge original roof trusses are now visible."

He added that the dividing walls between the two screens are being taken down and once all this work is complete it will leave a large steel frame, which will need cutting and removing from the buildings.

"It is at this point that the full scale of the auditorium will be revealed to us for the first time."

"It really is coming on nicely, " he added.

The stripping-out, which has also included work to remove a false ceiling in the south tower, is expected to be completed by the end of next month.

A large opening has also been made in the back of the building to allow larger machinery inside the building.

The main refurbishment is expected to start in the summer once a separate contractor has been appointed.

It will include the substantial repair and renovation of the existing building along with a small extension to provide extra catering and other facilities.

The conversion of the former Odeon building will turn it into a 3,800-capacity live music venue, to be run by the NEC group.

Plans for the scheme were approved by Bradford Council in March and a licensing application, for alcohol, entertainment and late night food, was approved last month.

The venue, which will also include bars and a restaurant area, is due to open in late 2020.

The building itself opened as the New Victoria in 1930, then was known as The Gaumont from 1950. It was turned into the Odeon twin screen cinema in 1968, finally closing in 2000.