Deal for Clayton Hospital to be completed within a fortnight

Coun Denise Jeffery, Wakefield Council’s deputy leader and cabinet member for regeneration, told a full council meeting on Wednesday she had met with owners Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust earlier this week.

The site on Northgate, has also been made secure after it became a target for vandals since the trust moved services out of the building in 2012.

The Express understands Wakefield Grammar School Foundation could be interested in buying the building.

Speaking at the meeting, Coun Jeffery said: “We have put a great deal of pressure on the trust because we can’t sit back and let this happen.

“I have met with officers and the health authority this week and they have assured us that within the next fortnight they will have a purchaser.

“Obviously, the plans will require planning permission but it looks like they have brought them to the table and things are moving on and that’s really good news.”

Iain Brodie, general facilities manager at Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “The process of securing windows at Clayton is almost complete and the trust has undertaken further security measures and also a programme of work to improve the external environment and landscape.

“The trust continues to progress the sale process for this site.”

Laurence Perry, bursar and clerk to the governors at Wakefield Grammar School Foundation, said: “Naturally we are interested in the possibility of acquiring land that is adjacent to our existing sites at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School and Wakefield Girls’ High School.

“However Clayton Hospital is a complex site and we continue to review the options available to us.”

The hospital was founded in 1854 and provided healthcare for the city long before the NHS was formed.