A BUILDING which has become known as a "blot on the landscape" is to be demolished to make way for homes for elderly people.

The Abraham Ormerod Centre, in Todmorden, has stood empty since the late 1980s when a new health centre was built in Rose Street.

But the Rose Street centre is now considered very dated, and the Health Authority Trust has promised a new building by next summer.

Warrington developer McCarthy and Stone has submitted plans for 49 apartments.

It also held an exhibition in the summer giving details of the proposals, which are expected to go before Calderdale planning committee soon.

It is intended the apartments will be housed in a four-storey building which, once completed, will end the links with notorious murderer Harold Shipman, who worked at the practice.