AN EYESORE derelict petrol station cannot be replaced with houses until possible pollution problems are addressed - but residents are already warning off developers.

Bramhope residents complained after the Shell filling station on Leeds Road was closed and boarded up,

leaving it an unsightly landmark at the entrance to the village.

Shell said the site would stay that way until a housing developer takes over the land - and expected to gain outline planning permission for

housing early this year.

While developer Consort Homes is waiting in the wings to turn the

mothballed filling station into luxury flats, Leeds City Council has said it must first test the site for

contamination.

But some villagers are opposed to flats and have resorted to extreme measures - a resident managed to climb over security fencing to daub the slogan 'No flats here' on the

boarded up garage window.

Feelings in the village have been running high since another developer, Cala Homes, applied to build a three-storey block of flats further along Leeds Road.

A spokeswoman for Leeds City Council said the outline planning application for the site was still under consideration.

She said: "Because the site has

previously been used as a petrol

station, the applicant has been asked to provide a 'contamination and remediation' report before the application can proceed.

"This report is to assess what substances may be left on the site and, if any such contaminants exist, to

outline how the applicant intends to deal with them."

Consort's development director, David Pickles, confirmed that the firm plans to build luxury flats on the

filling station site.

He said the application would be made subject to councillors granting outline permission.

Mr Pickles said the firm would

probably be looking at building eight to nine flats, which could be in a two or three-storey block.