Redcar Council buys M&S shop to demolish as part of revamp

Plans will see an area opened up linking the High Street and Esplanade in Redcar

A council has bought an empty Marks & Spencer shop which could be demolished as part of a town revamp.

The former store in High Street, Redcar, previously had a guide price of £1.29m.

Redcar and Cleveland Council would not disclose what it paid, describing it as "commercially sensitive".

The local authority has received £25m as part of the government's Towns Fund which is aimed to rejuvenate the coastal town.

Council leader Mary Lanigan has previously promised to "make every penny count" of the government cash.

The former Marks & Spencer shop previously had a guide price of £1.29m

The store closed in 2014 and property has entrances from the High Street and The Esplanade.

It will make way for a scheme linking the High Street with the seafront which will provide an events space and allow existing and pop-up businesses to trade outdoors.

Redcar councillor Neil Baldwin, an independent representing the Coatham ward, said it was the council's "intention to demolish" the building.

"We have rundown areas all through the borough and there are places and buildings which are never going to be re-inhabited, and the council can take the first step and hammer away in terms of regeneration."

Redcar was awarded £25m from the government to improve the town

The council is thought to be in discussions to potentially buy other buildings in the town, but these have not been made public, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

"Officers are continuing to work with our partners on the Redcar Town Deal board to make sure this huge opportunity to transform the town is grabbed with both hands," a spokesman said.

"A key element of the scheme is opening up a new events and cultural space between the seafront and the town centre and it is as part of those plans that the former Marks & Spencer building freehold has been bought.

Other plans include a proposed outdoor watersports centre at Coatham, a family activity centre on The Esplanade, renovating properties in Station Road, along with an improved library for the town and a clean energy education hub at Redcar & Cleveland College.

Loftus, in east Cleveland, which was awarded £5.8m from the Future High Streets fund, has seen public funds being used to buy the former Grade II-listed Barclays Bank building, as well as a former church and derelict chapel.

Former council leader, Labour's Sue Jeffrey, has questioned whether it was value for money.