DEMOLITION work has begun at the former Wayne Walker’s meat store.

The prominent town centre building at the junction of Trinity Street and Bradshawgate is being torn down to make way for a multi-storey car park, a hotel, and offices.

The adjacent Motorcycle Megastore showroom is also being demolished as part of the development, which is expected to be the first project to go ahead in Bolton Council’s £1 billion regeneration plan for the town centre.

Scaffolding has been erected around both sites and contractor J Freeley Ltd is expected to complete its work towards the end of April.

Deputy leader of Bolton Council, Cllr Ebrahim Adia, said: “It is great to see that we are following the announcement of our ambitious town centre masterplan with action and people will be able to see work underway.

“Transformation of this key gateway will be one step closer once this work has taken place.

“Creating a modern car park will cater for commuters using the new interchange as well as staff and students from the University of Bolton’s business school on Great Moor Street.”

NCP were appointed in September to carry out initial scoping work for the multi-storey car park, designed to serve Bolton railway station and the new transport interchange, and a development agreement is close to being finalised.

A planning application for the car park is expected to be submitted in the coming months.

Bolton Council paid around £1.5 million to purchase the Wayne Walker site when in came up for sale in 2016 prior to the shop’s sudden closure in January last year.

The town hall’s masterplan for town centre also identifies the ‘Trinity Gateway’ area as a site for major residential development following the completion of the car park project.