A GRADE II listed building has been saved from the bulldozers after an application to demolish a derelict former corn mill was refused.

Applicant Barry Gregory, of Horsforth Office Park, wants to build an office block on the site located off Low Lane in Horsforth, but members of the plans panel south and west agreed unanimously to reject that proposal as well.

They were reminded that in July 2004 landowners were granted planning permission to build 123 flats on the condition that the twentieth century mill was refurbished as part of the project but no completion date was ever agreed.

Subsequently the housing was built and the corn mill left to deteriorate.

In September 2006 new plans were submitted, this time to convert the mill into offices on the basis that the site was more contaminated then first thought and the fabric of the building in a worse state than expected.

In December 2007 it was revealed that more of the external walls of the building had been demolished then shown on approved drawings and the matter was investigated.

Now owners want to tear down the building altogether.

Coun Paul Truswell (Lab, Middleton Park) said: “It’s fair to say that this was not planning’s finest hour as the understanding was that the over-development of housing on this site was allowed contingent on addressing the challenges of this listed building, and the fact it wasn’t tied up finitely is disgraceful.

“Public interest isn’t outweighed by carrying out a demolition. It would communicate exactly the wrong message that the council is a soft touch.”

The former corn mill, which had been used by the adjacent Dickinson’s Scrap Yard, is in such a bad state that it has been placed on Leeds Civic Trust’s Heritage at Risk Register.