Westhoughton Town Hall could be transformed into two new restaurants and a coffee shop following discussions at a town council meeting this week.

Council leader Cllr Martyn Cox says that the purpose for the building is yet to be determined, but that the steering group “believe that the town hall should be multipurpose”.

He says that the steering group want the town hall to operate under three main functions: civic, community, and commercial use.

He added: “They want it to have community groups in there with specific functions.

“This could be offices, restaurants, and coffee shops, but this is yet to be determined.

“It’s such a big building that has been shut for years and it has been left to deteriorate.

“We want to bring it back to life and bring people back into it.”

Cllr Cox also explained that due to it being 120 years old, that it needed a lot of maintenance, and that the commercial businesses could help bring revenue in, which could go towards the maintenance cost.

He added: “It would mean that the people of Westhoughton get some good us out of it.

“It’s a really fantastic project, and we have been talking about it for four years.

“Now it’s time for us to deliver.”

Westhoughton Town Hall councillor, Cllr David Wilkinson took to Facebook to share details of the potential plans.

He said: “An interesting meeting of Westhoughton Town Council with officers of Bolton Council presenting their plans on converting Westhoughton Town Hall on Market Street.

“They said that no Bolton Council services will be put back in the building.

“Residents will have to use online or go to Bolton.

“The three floors of town hall will be converted, with two restaurants and a coffee shop on the ground floor.

“On the 1st floor the council chambers will be retained, and on the 1st and 2nd floors the offices areas remodel as new office spaces either for sole use or shared use.

“The upper floor library and Carnegie Hall will also have major changes.

“The upper floor of the library will be removed and converted to meeting rooms or community.”

Westhoughton town centre is also set to benefit from a £2.3m investment in a number of schemes for Market Street, which was announced in March.

Planning applications are expected to be submitted in the next few weeks, and more details will also follow around wider plans for the hall, and Westhoughton.