Listed status bid for M&S building

Marks and Spencer announced closure plans for its Sunderland branch in January

A bid has been launched to achieve listed status for a Marks and Spencer (M&S) building ahead of the shop's closure.

Historic England confirmed it had received an application for listing the store in Sunderland city centre.

M&S announced its plan to shut the branch in January, with a new, larger shop at the Washington Galleries set to open.

The listed status application was made by Sunderland Conservatives.

Councillor Lyall Reed said listing would protect the building from "inconsiderate changes to its Art Deco architecture" and becoming "just another Joplings" - a former department store in the city centre once dubbed the "Harrods of the North" but now branded an "eyesore".

“We’ve lost too many historical buildings in Sunderland and we need to make sure that the Marks and Spencer building doesn’t get added to the long list of lost beautiful buildings in our city," Mr Reed added.

A timeframe for the outcome of the application has not been given yet.