A £2.3 million church could soon be built in a deprived area of Bradford city centre.

Sunbridge Road Mission has been based in Bradford for 130 years, operating from a building that had been created in a row of back to back housing.

The church has worked on proposals to create a new premises in the area for years, and a new planning application for the latest design has recently been submitted to Bradford Council.

If approved, the new church will be built on an area of Sunbridge Road next to the former Provident Financial building. The site is owned by the Mission and currently leased for car and building material storage.

The church will be over two levels. The top floor, level with Sunbridge Road, will be open as a community space, while a floor on the level of Thornton Road will be home to the new church space, and used mainly on Sundays.

Pastor Matthew Pilkington said the new church is expected to cost around £2.3m. So far £1.2m has been raised towards that total, with much more fundraising planned.

The stunning transformation of Bradford's old Walkabout building into new Fountains Church

He said: “The church is full of young families and people from different cultures. We have around 200 people each Sunday.

“Thousands of people’s lives have been impacted through their involvement in the church.”

He said the Sunbridge Road area of Bradford, which includes the city’s red-light district, has always been an area of high poverty, and is the reason the church was originally built there.

The area still has many of the same needs, Mr Pilkington argues, and so it is just as important that the church remains on Sunbridge Road.

Many of those who attend the church are from minority communities, including families from Nigeria and India.

He hopes that even non church goers will be able to make use of the new building’s community spaces, pointing out that there were few community spaces in this area of the city.

He added: “This is a church for all of the city. People come here from across Bradford.

“We do a lot of outreach work, and it is not a coincidence we’ve chosen a site near here for the new church. We want to keep serving this community.”

Describing the site, the planning application says: “The site itself is underused and unsightly. There is an opportunity therefore for dramatically improving this situation.”

A decision on the planning application is expected next month.