PLANS to dig up the remnants of a demolished factory at a troubled piece of land have been revealed.

The scheme would bring the former Rentokil Initial site, in Lidget Green, one step closer to being transformed into much-needed housing.

But the land remains at the centre of an Environment Agency investigation, after it was used as an unauthorised tip for thousands of tonnes of building waste.

The key brownfield site has been earmarked for housing and the landowner, Isle of Man-based Frankill Limited, has now asked for planning consent to remove the factory's remaining foundations, floor slabs and hardstandings as part of its ongoing efforts to prepare the land for development.

Work at the site, in Northside Road, had effectively come to a standstill in 2013 when the authorities stepped in over concerns that Frankill's contractor, Peakstone Aggregates, had dumped 51,000 tonnes of building waste on the site without permission.

This week, agent for the plans, Robert Beal, said he could not comment on the Environment Agency investigation.

But he said Frankill was not only seeking permission to remove the last remnants of the demolished factory, it would also soon be submitting a further planning application to "reprofile" the site.

He added: "At the site, work was stopped mid-way through remediation. There's various stockpiles and holes, it's an uneven and a fairly unappealing piece of land."

Mr Beal said remedying this would make the site a more appealing prospect for potential developers.

He said: "It's to make it so people who look at the site will see it as more of a development opportunity and less of an area of derelict land.

"Clearly, the landowner is very eager to see it developed."

The Rentokil Initial factory closed in 2008 and was later demolished.

In 2012, outline planning permission was granted, jointly with a neighbouring patch of land, for up to 400 homes.

But in 2013, Bradford Council refused to grant Peakstone Aggregates retrospective planning permission for bringing 51,000 tonnes of material onto the site, saying it could potentially jeopardise housing plans by raising the land levels.

The Environment Agency later began an investigation into activities at the site.

This week, a spokesman for the Environment Agency said this investigation was still continuing.

He added: "The Environment Agency is continuing to investigate a waste site on Northside Road, Bradford, working closely with Bradford Metropolitan District Council to address any contamination at the site and will comment on any further planning applications or future use of the site.

"Since we served an enforcement notice in relation to the site, no more waste has been tipped there.

"We are continuing to look at further enforcement options; however, while our investigations into previous activities are ongoing, we can’t talk about them in detail."

Peakstone Aggregates has denied all wrongdoing, saying it had only brought in inert materials as part of work to ready the site for development, and this work had stopped immediately when planning consent was refused.

This week, Peakstone Aggregates' project manager Andy Jones again stressed that his firm had not contaminated the land or significantly raised the land levels.

He said Peakstone was keen to continue its work, as everyone wanted to see the site developed for housing.

"We just want to get it finished and walk away with everybody happy," he added.

A Bradford Council spokesman said: "We are working hard with the Environment Agency, who carried out an investigation into unauthorised dumping of waste on this site and who are now considering legal proceedings.

"We await the outcome of those proceedings, as does the landowner who is eager to resolve the issues on site so he can submit more detailed planning applications."