The controversial former HQ of Bradford & Bingley bank in Main Street, Bingley, is likely to be demolished once it is sold.

It could make way for a new supermarket as at least two store giants are said to be queuing up to buy the prime town centre £4 million site.

The boss of the nationalised mortgage firm is hoping a deal will be agreed by the end of March.

Bradford & Bingley has received several potential offers for the five-storey concrete building – once dubbed a ‘carbuncle’ by Prince Charles – since being put up for sale with a price tag of around £4m last year.

Bidders are understood to include two national supermarket groups as well as property developers, including 4Urban, which recently completed the new 5 Rise shopping mall across the road from the Bradford & Bingley.

It is unlikely that the old B&B building, now empty since the company transferred remaining staff to its Crossflatts base, would be converted.

Richard Banks, B&B managing director, confirmed that several potential buyers had expressed interest in the 1970s building, which stands at the highest point of Bingley town centre.

He said: “We’ve had six or seven expressions of interest in the Main Street building, including conditional and unconditional offers from a variety of potential purchasers.

“We are now considering which of the offers would be the most attractive to us. I would hope that we can reach an agreement by the end of the first quarter.”

Mr Banks thought it was highly likely that whoever bought the building would probably demolish it for alternative use. The building was constructed specifically as a building society head office and would be difficult to convert. “Whoever buys it, it is highly likely that Bingley will be rid of its carbuncle,” he said.

Bradford & Bingley had consultations with both Bradford Council and Yorkshire Forward, the regional development agency, about possible future uses for the site before putting it on the market.

A detailed plan of the site, showing what scale of new development could be accommodated, had been prepared.

It is understood that, if a supermarket was given the go-ahead, it would result in a two-storey medium sized store, rather than a typical ‘out of town’ style development due to the limitations of the site.

The infamous building, constructed in 1975, was designed by architects at Bradford firm John Bruntons who were inspired by the nearby Five Rise Locks. Due to the terrain, they were compelled to design a multi-deck structure which in its prime housed around 3,000 people.

The 900 remaining staff are all now based at B&B’s Crossflatts building, which opened in 1994 as a new base for what was then the UK’s second largest building society, which floated on the stock exchange in 2000.