Tameside Council to consider plan to move library and close art gallery

About 150 staff could be housed in the library following conversion into offices

Tameside's central library and art gallery could be converted into council offices under new plans.

The council will on Wednesday consider proposals to move the library to Tameside One in Ashton-under-Lyne.

Art lovers would be left without an alternative to the art gallery in Ashton-under-Lyne from January though.

Relocating the library out of the Grade II listed building on Old Street means it will be made "redundant", according to plans submitted by the council.

More stories from the North West of England

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said officers from Tameside Council see the move as part of the borough's "wider rationalisation" of its library services.

Tameside One is also said to offer easier access to more residents.

The proposal by the authority is to convert the 125-year-old building into offices to house 150 council staff.

The library was originally built from money bequeathed by George Heginbottom JP and designed by architects John Eaton and Sons in Victorian Gothic style.

Proposals to offset the loss of gallery and art space in Tameside are due to be discussed by the executive cabinet at Dukinfield Town Hall.