Bradford's brutalist Kirkgate Shopping Centre to be demolished

Kirkgate was dubbed Bradford's "space age shopping centre" when it opened in 1976

A 46-year-old brutalist shopping centre in Bradford is to be demolished as part of plans to transform the city centre.

The Kirkgate Centre, which has been bought by the council for £15.5m, will be knocked down and replaced with green space, housing and commercial space.

As part of the shake up, Primark will relocate into the city's Broadway Shopping Centre.

Kirkgate first opened in 1976 - as the Arndale Centre - and was dubbed Bradford's "space-age shopping centre".

It is currently home to 46 shops and food and drink businesses, including Boyes, Sports Direct and New Look, as well as Primark.

In recent years, the centre has suffered from a high number of vacant units, partly due to competition from The Broadway, which opened in 2015.

The £260m Broadway Centre opened in 2015

Ben Middleton, assistant director of estates and property, said the Bradford Council did not want Kirkgate retailers to "panic" and that the centre was not expected to close in the immediate future.

He said there would be a period of around two years before Primark moved and work to wind down the centre began, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

He said he expected many retailers to relocate to the Broadway, adding that the authority wanted to "focus our prime retail offer" in that part of the city.

Councillor Alex Ross Shaw, executive member for planning, regeneration and transport, said demolition would allow for the expansion of the "city village" - a scheme which will see up to 1,000 homes built and the creation of green space.

He said the aim was to avoid the low cost, low quality housing that had blighted the city centre.

"We don't just want one bed flats or bedsits. We want families and more young professionals," he said.

"We have to make sure it is visually fantastic, not just huge apartment blocks."