A LANDMARK Huddersfield tower block could be flattened - to improve views of the Galpharm Stadium.

Kirklees Council is looking to improve how the town looks - and the first casualty could be Ibbotson Flats.

The imposing high-rise block at the junction of Southgate and Leeds Road was opened in February 1964 with hopes for skyline living.

It was named after Huddersfield athlete Derek Ibbotson who broke the world mile record in 1957.

Now Kirklees Council could be about to knock down the flats to improve the town centre.

The Examiner understands if the plans go ahead, residents would be rehoused in new purpose-built low rise flats and houses in an area of land nearer the Galpharm Stadium.

The developments are part of a council plan called Axis, which aims to link the town centre and stadium areas as well as regenerating it.

The Axis report says: "The route to the stadium is informal and unattractive at present.

"There is poor visual focus on the stadium, with little opportunity to view the stadium along the informal route until one reaches the point where Gasworks Street meets St Andrew's Road."

The report also says that a visual link from Northumberland Street to the stadium is "paramount" and is a requirement when sites in that area come forward for redevelopment.

It reads: "Presently the visual link is very weak because high buildings obstruct the view and the stadium itself is set into the ground and not imposing.

"However, the view could be enhanced as redevelopment takes place by carefully considering the heights of new buildings so as not to obstruct the main `eyeline' and by framing the view through the disposition of new buildings.

"The Ibbotson Flats is a major obstruction and when redevelopment of this site is considered it should be undertaken in conjunction with adjoining land to arrange new buildings further to the south."

The report also says a building of "significant" scale should be created near the stadium to provide a clearer focus.

Huddersfield MP Barry Sheerman welcomed the move.

The MP sparked an outcry more than a decade ago when he suggested the flats were "an eyesore".

He added: "I think it is a fantastic idea.

"The flats do nothing for social cohesion - they are isolating.

"To my knowledge they have never been popular or fully let."