A LANDMARK Blackburn pub could be converted into a block of offices if new plans are approved.

A Bolton-based business constortium, named as R.M. Adam & U.M. Patel, has submitted planning requests to Blackburn with Darwen Council for the Boulevard pub, next to Blackburn Railway Station.

Their plans would create 400 sq metres of office space, with staff expected to use the nearby Morrisons car park.

A spokesman for Blackburn with Darwen Council said the scheme was now under consideration.

The pub was put up for sale in May 2003, six months after it closed its doors, and the auction price was £85,000.

At the time, auctioneers Fleurets said the venue had the potential for the building to be put to other uses but it is now up for sale again.

Best known as the Star and Garter, it changed its name to The Boulevard in August 2000 after undergoing a refit.

It had closed after licensee Dave Stewart was found hanged in the living quarters.

Since its change of name, it has had a succession of owners, including Blackburn lottery millionairess Kath Brindle, who took on several pubs in the summer of 2001. She won £2million on the Lottery in 1995.

In June 2001, landlady Andrea Bennett caused outrage by laying on steamy sex shows in the middle of the afternoon without a licence.

A spokesman for Blackburn with Darwen Council said: "An application for the pub is currently being considered. A decision has not yet been made on whether it will be decided by officers or councillors."

If councillors approve the change, it would become the second well-known pub in a year to be converted.

Late last year, The Borough Arms, in Exchange Street, became a Chinese restauarant.