A TOWN centre site which has been derelict for 12 years could soon be transformed into an up-market housing development.

The site of the former Wesleyan Chapel in Barley Market Street has been dormant since the listed building was demolished by West Devon Borough Council almost eleven years ago. The council was forced into taking the unusual move after the chapel became dangerous.

Now, after several years of negotiations, the 1.7-acre hillside site has been bought by Tavistock firm Wessex Heritage for £180,000.

John Taylor, managing director of Wessex Heritage, said: ?It has been an eyesore for the town for a long time. We have had the site cleared and got rid of all the junk and the scrub and we?ve now got a specialist firm to do a topographical survey.?

Mr Taylor said no formal plans would be drawn up for the site until the results of the survey ? but he intended to submit a planning application to the borough council this summer.

He said: ?Discussions are ongoing concerning the most appropriate use for this land, but our aim is to rejuvenate this site for the benefit of Tavistock as a whole.

?It?s got a lot of potential, but it?s complicated because it?s so steep. We know we can work up something sensible there and one of the things we have looked at are town houses and a block of flats.?

Mr Taylor said the development was likely to be up-market. He did not believe the site would be suitable for affordable housing.

The chapel site was put into receivership some years ago, after its owners went bankrupt. The borough council paid more than £36,000 to demolish the chapel for the sake of public safety ? with interest, that figure has increased to £65,000, which has now been repaid to the council.

A spokesman for the borough said it was good to receive the money after such a long time. The original debt had now been paid, with the balance being put into the borough?s interest received budget.

The extent of the dangerous condition of the chapel, and the cottage directly above it, was realised in November 1992.

Cracking walls in the cottage were found to be linked to the delapidated chapel on which the cottage partly rested.

The cottage owners were forced to move out of their home, which was finally demolished, along with part of the chapel, in the late spring of 1993.

Within weeks, it was discovered that the remainder of the chapel was so dangerous that it too had to be demolished.

The demolition was carried out by the borough under emergency powers, due to the unsafe condition of the building.