Plans for 'eyesore' shop unused for 25 years

The building has been boarded up for 25 years

An empty "eyesore" shopfront in Wolverhampton, boarded up for 25 years, could be converted into shops and flats under plans submitted to the city council.

The property on Worcester Street in the city centre lies within a designated conservation area but has been unused for more than two decades.

The new application seeks permission to gut the few remaining parts of the dilapidated building and replace it with a new shop and five flats.

An application to convert a former travel agent on the same street into shops and flats was approved in May, and a plan for eight flats on the opposite side of the street, put forward a year ago, is to be decided upon by the authority.

The latest application by Shabana Latifi said the move would "restore a long-derelict building and remove an eyesore" as the building had not been used since 1999.

"The proposal seeks to retain and restore the heritage front façade and rear elevation, reconstruct the internal structure to provide a ground floor retail unit and high-quality accommodation above, reinstate architectural detailing to the front elevation in keeping with its historic character, and maximise the use of the site by sensitively extending to the rear and providing a loft conversion."

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.