Two businesswomen have put forward a plan to safeguard one of Baildon's architectural gems - by turning it into a hub of the community.

Emma Taylor and Louise Pickles want to see the Towngate Rooms in Northgate become an arts, crafts, flowers and food hall, as well as a facility for villagers. The 96-year-old council-owned building, which was opened as a Liberal club during the reign of George V, has been empty for about three years.

But Mrs Taylor, 36, and Mrs Pickles, 39, say they will pay for it to be renovated, at a cost of tens of thousands of pounds, to give the village back its heart. And they have the backing of more than 800 villagers, including councillors and Shipley MP Philip Davies, who signed a petition backing the ambitious scheme.

Mrs Taylor of Stone Fold, Baildon, said: "Town-gate Rooms has been empty for three years but before that it was used as a community hall.

"It has been a central focus of the village since they knocked everything else down in the 60s.

"Baildon used to be really thriving. There was a cinema, clothes, fruit and veg, and hardware shops.

"It was a shopping destination. Now it has become more of a pass-through place."

Mrs Taylor, who owns Emma florists in Westgate, said: "We want to get it back to how it once was and the fact that we have 800 signatures in six days shows that people support what we are saying."

Bradford Council had initially planned to sell the building and has received a number of expressions of interest from property developers.

Mrs Pickles, a married mother-of-three, of Westfield Terrace, Baildon, said she hoped to open a delicatessen selling food grown on allotments and from local farmers.

She said: "Baildon needs a delicatessen with a tea shop with the focus on local produce. This would also turn Towngate Rooms back into a community centre for young mums and other groups."

Under the scheme, Bradford Council would lease the building to them at the current commercial rate and they would pay for its refurbishment.

MP Mr Davies, who lives in Baildon, urged Bradford Council to accept the scheme.

He said: "I am supporting them. I have been in touch with the Council on numerous occasions asking them to pull their finger out and let these people set up their business in Baildon."

Mike Bell, Bradford Council's assistant director for asset management, said: "We will consider their proposals and investigate all the options."