WORK is set to start within six weeks on a long-awaited shops development which will fill a gap in the middle of Holmfirth.

A row of four shops will be built on Huddersfield Road, incorporating the former Brook Turner butcher's shop and vacant land alongside.

Property developers Jaguar Estates are also building eight flats on land above the shops next to Cooper Lane.

Brook Turner moved out of the premises five years ago and they were briefly occupied by a furniture repair firm trading as the Chair Doctor.

Jaguar Estates' development is seen by many as a mixed blessing for Holmfirth.

Holme Valley Business Association welcomed the plans for more shops retaining the shell of the former butcher's premises.

But it fiercely opposed the flats scheme originally envisaged by the Sheffield-based developer, saying the building was on a steep-sided site and would totally dominate the surrounding area.

After a long battle over the number of flats and parking spaces a revised scheme - with the shops included - was finally given the green light by Kirklees Council planners last summer.

Jaguar Estates' director Rod Wadsworth said: "We have been finalising our building costs and are about a month to six weeks away from a start date.

"The initial stages will involve a lot of work to prepare the site.

"In all, the work will take about nine months to complete."