A local authority has been given £416,312 to redevelop one of its heritage-listed former office buildings into flats.

The grant to Burnley Council has come from the £60 million second phase of the government's £180m Brownfield Land Release Fund, aimed at utilising sites as part of the long-term plan for housing.

The money will be used to redevelop former council-owned offices in Nicholas Street, Burnley. The town centre building, which has stood empty for years, has been previously been struck by dry rot.

It forms part of a terrace of historic buildings on the eastern side of the street and contributes to a group of late Victorian and Edwardian commercial and public buildings within the Burnley Town Centre Conservation Area.

The property was originally two separate buildings dating from 1866-69 including the Poor Law Union and Oddfellows Club. It is noted for its Florentine revival style.

The redevlopment work will be done through the authority’s housing partnering agreement with Barnfield lnvestment Properties.

The Burnley Council's executive approved the redevelopment, as the Nicholas Street offices were identified as a key project in the Burnley Town Centre and Canalside masterplan.

The building is surplus to its requirements for the authority and no alternative viable uses have been found, leaving the authority with ongoing maintenance and management costs.

The council will now use the grant of £416,312 to bring forward the site for residential development.

Cllr Mark Townsend, Burnley Council's growth boss, said: "We're pleased to have been awarded funding to help us transform a Grade II listed town centre property, which has been empty for several years, into affordable, quality homes."

The latest round of Brownfield Land Release Fund grants will support 100 regeneration projects across England, support thousands of new jobs and enable more than 6,000 new homes will be built on brownfield sites

Derelict car parks, industrial sites and town centre buildings that have fallen into disrepair will all benefit from £180 million of investment as the government strives to meet the country's housing needs.

The minister for housing and planning Rachel Maclean said: "We know we need to build more homes, but this cannot come at the expense of concreting over our precious countryside.

"That is why we are doing all we can to make sure we’re making use of wasteland and unused brownfield land, so we can turn these eyesores into beautiful and thriving communities."

Elsewhere in Lancashire, Lancaster City Council has been awareded £1,439,016 for brownfield development, while nearby Oldham Council has been awarded £3.2 million, Bury gets £1.7m, and Rochdale £425,951.