AN empty town centre shop is set for a new life as the local headquarters for the Benefits Agency.

If the plan gets the go-ahead, the Benefits Agency currently housed in Hurstdale House, outside Rawtenstall centre, would move to a former greengrocer's shop in the Valley Centre, off Bank Street. Planning officers estimate the move would bring more than 260 visitors a day to the prominent corner unit, which has been empty for 12 months.

Councillors will make a decision this week, but Rossendale Council's planning department is recommending approval for the scheme.

Turning a shop into an office is strictly against council policy not to allow offices on the ground floor of premises in the town centre conservation area. But a report to the development control sub-committee says the number of banks, building societies and other financial institutions in town centres has increased nationally as well as locally.

The Benefits Agency would also considerably increase the number of people passing through the shopping centre in the course of a day.

The report points out: "In that respect, its relocation within the Valley Centre could be seen as having a certain advantage to the shopping area, which its present location beyond the town centre and at the top of a steep hill away from public transport does not give."

The Benefits Agency must leave its present home off Newchurch Road, Rawtenstall, by December. The current headquarters is considered inconvenient for the elderly and handicapped.

Planners are advising that the change of use permission should be for the Benefits Agency only, rather than a general one and should end if and when the Agency leaves the shop.

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