DEVELOPERS are set to provide the homes of the future - in one of the Huddersfield area's historic mills.

The massive Titanic Mill at Linthwaite is being converted to provide 121 flats, a restaurant, bars, a gym and swimming pool.

The stone-built, six-storey mill is encased in more than 200 miles of scaffolding as work begins to restore the outside of the structure.

Seventy-five of the flats have already been sold from the plans.

Now, developer Lowry Renaissance has unveiled a show home with the latest electronic gadgetry as it gears up its marketing campaign.

Buyers of the new flats will be given the opportunity to buy "smart" technology to make life easier.

The system - devised by electronics giant Siemens - includes remote controls to open and shut blinds and curtains, allows residents to play music in one place and listen to it all over the property or pipe the sound from a computer all around the room.

Other features include a security system which mimics the occupant's usual routine to switch lights on and off and open and close curtains when the person is on holiday.

There are also energy-efficiency features, such as switches to control temperatures in individual rooms and a single "master switch" to turn off every light in the flat when the occupants leave.

Lowry Renaissance is also installing a combined heat and power boiler to serve the complex, as well as high-performance insulation and solar panels.

Water needs will be met from a bore hole on the site, with water filtered and pumped into each flat for drinking, washing and the central heating.

Each flat will have a balcony and will be cabled for audio, video, computer and telephone.

The one and three-bedroom apartments range in price from £133,295 to £256,650.

In keeping with the Titanic theme, the flats are named after famous passenger ships of the White Star Line, including Baltic, Oceanic and Suevic.

The show home depicts the two- bedroom Olympic flat, with kitchen, open-plan dining and living area, en suite bedrooms and dressing room.

The first flats will be ready to be occupied next summer.

But the whole development will not be finished until 2008.

When it is complete, residents will be able to enjoy membership of a health club comprising a gym, swimming pool and spa, with a sauna, a plunge pool, a steam room and a beauty therapy suite.

A centrepiece of the development will be a two-level, 160-seater restaurant recreating the opulence of the Titanic liner - with a replica of its grand staircase, potted palms, a grand piano and nautical charts and instruments on display.

The complex will also have a 16-bedroom hotel and offer residents and guests a laundry service and room service.

Lowry director Eileen Harrison said the development would employ about 40 people, including restaurant and health club staff, cleaners and caretakers.

Ms Harrison added: "The development will not be complete until 2008, but we are fitting out the apartments to ensure they won't be out of date even then."

Area sales manager Pauline Buchanan said the scheme had captured the imagination of buyers.

She added: "We have had one buyer in his early 20s and another in his 70s.

"But the apartments mainly appeal to couples in their mid to late 30s - young, hard-working professional people with a certain lifestyle," said Ms Buchanan.

"They may have a property abroad and want to use the apartment as a base."