Designers are planning to have a canal basin as the focal point

Named "The Channel" the plan envisages flats, cafes, bars, shops and a hotel along with a stand-alone basin which could link with any reopened canal.

Developers behind the scheme said it was a 10-year plan for an urban village opposite Forster Square retail park.

City planners are expected to view the scheme in the next few weeks.

The project aims to be a "new generation regeneration", not a showpiece development, but a fully-functional urban village where people live, work and relax.

The plans ...demonstrate the confidence that major developers now have in the city and its potential for the future Councillor Margaret Eaton

And the Bradford firm fronting the idea, Magellan Properties, claim they have an insight into what the citizens want.

Chairman of the company, Harold Robinson said: "I grew up in Bradford and watched the redevelopment of the Forster Square area in the late 1950s and early 60s.

"Since then all we have heard from the people of Bradford is how awful and inappropriate the buildings are, so it has long been my ambition to see something done about it."

Leader of Bradford Council Margaret Eaton said:"The plans for the Channel demonstrate the confidence that major developers now have in the city and its potential for the future."