The former Morrisons head office building in Thornton Road has been demolished and the site is being cleared.

The building has been empty since the UK’s fourth largest supermarket chain moved into a new HQ ten times the size on Gain Lane in 2006, which houses more than 2,000 staff.

Both head offices have been named Hilmore House, after Hilda, the mother of Sir Ken Morrison, who worked for the business for more than 50 years and spearheaded its growth, and wife of William Morrison who started the Bradford market stall in 1899 from which the present retail giant emerged.

A Morrisons spokesman confirmed that the site was still owned by Morrisons but could not confirm what it will be used for in future.

At the time of the opening of its new HQ, with more than 330,000 sq ft of office space, Morrisons said it planned to sell the old building.