A £4 million care housing scheme for the elderly is to be built.

Work has begun on the 40 new units in Park Road, off Manchester Road, Bradford, in a scheme by Housing 21 partnered with Bradford Council, Trident and Bradford City Primary Care Trust.

The scheme will feature communal facilities including a 25-place day centre, a luncheon club and a drop-in facility for older people from the local community.

The second phase of the project involves the construction of 11 bungalows which will run on an equity-share basis. Residents of these bungalows will have access to all the care and support services available from and within the main block. Priority for all the accommodation will go to older people living in the Bradford 5 area who require housing and care. It is expected that half the homes will go to older people from local African-Caribbean communities.

Melinda Phillips, chief executive of Housing 21, said: "This will enable older people in Bradford to have new choices in accessing quality housing, care and support services."

The project by York-based S Harrison Construction will use the latest technology to aid the health of residents. It will complement a similar multi-cultural development between Bradford Council and Hanover Housing at Barkerend.

Councillor Martin Smith, portfolio holder at Bradford Council, said: "These initiatives, along with the pilot scheme unveiled recently in Clayton, represent our commitment to developing new models of housing care to support older people living in their own homes."

Duncan Long, S Harrison Construc-tion's contracts manager, said: "We are currently exploring a number of other development and construction opportunities in the Bradford area."

The scheme is expected to be finished in June next year.