Underground arcade discovered

It's a rare find ..... and a complete Victorian street is being being brought back to life after being found beneath a shopping centre in Keighley in West Yorkshire.

The hidden gem, created at the end of the 19th century was discovered under the town's Royal Arcade and now plans are afoot to make good use of it as Adam Fowler reports.

The owners of the Royal Arcade in Keighley are wondering what to do with an entire Victorian street that's been discovered buried below their shopping centre.

The street dates back to the 1890s but they don't know if the units were just used for storage for the shops above or retail outlets in their own right. They're now considering whether to turn it in to a wine bar, develop it in to arts and crafts shops or preserve it exactly as it is.

• The Royal Arcade was built in 1901, the year Queen Victoria died and Edward VII came to the throne
• Gott and Butterfield ironmongers moved in, and it was popularly known as Butterfield's arcade

• The shop, once described as an Aladdin's cave selling household goods, bicycles and camping equipment, closed in 1983

The man hoping to development an underground Victorian shopping arcade in Keighley says there are many planning restrictions - and anything built will fit in with its Victorian pa

Other ideas being considered include creating a visitor attraction or converting the old shops for use by craftsmen and specialist traders.

When builders discovered an underground shopping arcade in Keighley, much of the Victorian building work on the cellars of seven shops was still intact, while wooden shop-fronts and stable pens were in place.

Constructors also found doors, signs and fittings from some of the original shops in the street, which was then owned by Frank Booth and Mark Holroyd.

Now Nick Holroyd, manager of the Royal Arcade, which is above the discovery, is investigating whether the street - once at ground level - can be restored.

He has enlisted an architect and structural engineer - and plans are being made to develop the street, which has space for up to eight units.

Shoppers may soon be able to bag a basement bargain - and walk through a secret Victorian shopping street after it was announced the street could reopen for business.

The subterranean cavern of former shops and stables were uncovered under the Royal Arcade, a two-storey complex of stores and flats in Keighley, West Yorkshire.

Last used in the 1890s, it was found after builders smashed their way through while converting the arcade in 2002.