Blackpool civil service building poised for new use as homes

Mexford House pictured when it was in use by the Civil Service

Proposals have been lodged with Blackpool Council seeking permission to change the use of Mexford House to residential.

The scheme would see the three-storey building on Mexford Avenue, North Shore, redeveloped into 92 new homes with 30 ground floor flats, and 31 flats on the first and second floors.

There would also be 131 car parking spaces provided.

A report accompanying the application also sets out the need to remove asbestos from the premises.

It says this is not unusual for a building of this date and type and specialist contractors would be brought in to remove the asbestos.

But the design brief adds the "site occupies a sustainable location in a residential area".

It says the building is considered "capable of providing high quality residential accommodation."

Mexford House, which was built in the 1970s, closed in 2009 when workers were transferred to other premises.

In 2006 almost 250 workers were based there, employed by the Department for Work and Pensions and the Inland Revenue. Since it closed, the building has been empty.