BARNOLDSWICK'S historic town hall could be restored to its former glory if planning permission is granted to turn it into flats.

Plans to convert the building, on Jepp Hill into six, one-bedroom flats have been submitted to Pendle Council's West Craven Committee.

Applicant Peter Thornton, of Thornton Property (Oakworth) Ltd, said he wanted to develop the town hall sympathetically and if the plans were approved the building would be restored to how it looked in the 1920s.

Planning permission for the restoration has already been granted to a previous owner and would bring back some of the old features of the building. The work would include inserting an original door entrance and erecting railings and laying old stone flags outside.

Grant funding from Pendle Council has already been secured for the restoration.

Mr Thornton added that all six flats would be leased and not sold.

"We want to let the flats to people who are just setting up and can't maybe afford to buy somewhere in the area," he said.

The former town hall was bought by Thornton Property in November last year. Before that it was used as office accommodation.

The building was constructed around 1815 as a Wesleyan Chapel and was extended in 1859 to provide a day school. In 1877 it was bought by the Mechanics Institute, who altered it to form a lecture hall, reading and smoke rooms.

The lecture hall was let for various entertainments while the Yorkshire Penny Bank occupied another room.

It became the town hall in 1901 until around 1997.

More recently, the building became the subject of controversy with developers and residents disagreeing on what its future function should be.

In October 1999, the Herald reported how people power forced a dramatic turnaround when Pendle Council called a halt to plans to sell the town hall to a pub company.

Residents living nearby opposed the council's plans to sell the hall to Preston-based Inns and Leisure Ltd. They were concerned about the noise and disruption a pub development would cause and argued the town did not need another pub. On hearing these concerns, the council agreed to market the building for conversion to housing.

The latest application is scheduled for discussion at a meeting of the West Craven Committee on May 6.