Work has started on a £7 million scheme to turn a vandalised former hospital on green belt land in Cleckheaton into a business park.

The four-acre site in Bradford Road housed the old North Bierley Hospital which closed in 1989 and has been derelict since.

It is next to Cleckheaton Golf Club and a stone's throw from Chain Bar roundabout. The site will have 45,000 square feet of offices when completed.

The first phase of the development, which will be called Woodland Park, will be completed by May next year.

The scheme will consist of three two-storey buildings in landscaped grounds with a central water feature and a 205-space car park.

Two of the units, with more than 10,000 square feet of space, have already been bought by direct mail company Colleagues Direct Marketing. One will be used as the new regional office.

The business complex is being created by Harrogate-based developers Prospect Hill who were given detailed planning permission last year.

The company's spokesman Bruce Entwhistle said: "It is very unusual to find a green belt location immediately adjacent to a very busy motorway intersection. The Chain Bar roundabout is one of the busiest in the region.

"The reason we were allowed to replace the old hospital buildings was because planning guidelines allowed for a new development on a similar amount of space.

"The site has trees on all four sides, with the golf course on one of these and is therefore attractive to potential occupiers.

"We are currently holding talks with four companies involved in financial services and information technology who want to move to Woodland Park.''

Robbie Barrett, finance director at Colleagues, said: "The freehold purchase of our new offices reflects our long term confidence in the Bradford area as a place for us to thrive."

Prospect Hill was given outline planning permission for the development four years ago after the company commissioned a survey to see if it was financially viable to re-use the former buildings.

But the report concluded the buildings were too dilapidated and would need a lot of money to bring them up to standard.

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