Keighley's long-derelict Damside multi-storey car park is for sale.

The notorious eyesore is likely to be demolished and possibly turned into shops.

Bradford Council is asking for sealed bids from developers for the Oakworth Road building.

Potential buyers will have to reveal what they will use the 41-year-old site for.

The council's sale document states that the car park is obsolete.

It says the car park is in an area identified for town centre expansion with a preference given to retail and leisure.

The council said it would be inappropriate to use the car park for residential or industrial accommodation on the ground floor.

Potential buyers can include outline details of their proposed development scheme and must include details of how it will be funded.

Councillor Andrew Mallinson, the council's regeneration chief, said the council would not necessarily choose the highest bidder.

He said: "We won't only look at the financial return, an imaginative scheme might come forward.

"It will certainly have to be retail oriented. I think the site is right for retail or commercial development."

Cllr Mallinson said a successful developer was likely to knock down the existing building.

He said: "It doesn't lend itself to any sort of conversion because of the restricted headroom. There is also structural damage."

Cllr Mallinson said developers were unlikely to make the "significant investment" needed to reopen the building as a car park.

He said research by Airedale Masterplan consultants Arup showed the town centre already had enough parking provision.

Cllr Graham Mitchell, chairman of Keighley Town Council's transport committee, was pleased the site was back on the market.

The transport committee's preferred use for Damside was as a car park but the most important thing was to make some use of it.

"To leave it for six to seven years is a waste of a valuable site on the edge of the town centre," said Cllr Mitchell.

He suggested a car park on that side of town might now be more financially viable due to large numbers of houses being built on the outskirts of Keighley.

He also said nearby developments, such as Church Green, Church Street, and the old Hattersley's site meant that area of town was "on the rise".