More work looks set to be completed on a prominent building in Whitehaven's town centre.

J Dixon and Son Ltd has submitted plans to Copeland Council for the demolition of a 20th-century two-storey addition to the vacant Union Hall, on the corner of Lowther Street and Scotch Street.

Building owner Donald Dixon said the section of the building, which is at the back of the property, had been badly affected by rot and the demolition would be the next phase of a transformation which started with £100,000 being spent on renovating the property last year.

A £10,000 grant from Copeland Council's Pride of Place scheme supported that work on the Grade II-listed building.

Mr Dixon said: "It's a small extension that was put on with accommodation for a caretaker in the early-1900s.

"It's got dry rot and just about falling down so we want to demolish that and try to get the end of Union Hall as it used to be."

Even if permission for the demolition is granted, Mr Dixon said work may need to wait until the threat of the coronavirus pandemic has lessened.

He did not reveal what his plans for the building would be once the renovation is completed but said there were people interested in it.

Mr Dixon bought the vacant building from Cumbria County Council for more than £200,000 in 2011, initially expressing an interest in turning it into a restaurant.

He also owns a long-established department store in Lowther Street.

The building, which is believed to have been built in 1814, was originally the Poor Law Union which supported the nearby workhouse on Low Road.