Approval has been granted for redevelopment work on one of Co Antrim's best-known Victorian buildings.

At a cost of £3.1 million, contractors are to carry out a multi-million pound facelift on Larne Town Hall.

Local councillors were told this week that the historic building is in a state of disrepair and that some even thought it had reached the end of its useful life.

But a team of consultants hired by Larne Council has laid out ambitious plans that will see major repair work carried out

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At the latest meeting of the Development Committee, the town's Development Manager Hazel Bell told members that planning permission and listed building consent had been received for the proposals and that work was due to start on the site in August.

As reported in the Larne Times this week, Mrs Bell presented a report to members detailing the extent of the proposed refurbishment, which will include work to both the interior and exterior of the building.

As much as £1.5m is expected to be spent on repairs to the building's crumbling external stonework: "This is the difficulty with having sandstone in a coastal area," she explained.

(BMcC/GK)