THE town council intends to buy a former bank branch building and move its offices into the premises.

Malvern Town Council has put in an offer for the NatWest building, in Church Street, Malvern, which closed in June.

The premises is being sold by property agents GVA for approximately £275,000, according to its website.

A town council spokesman said: "If successful, the town council intend to draw up plans for the relocation of the town council offices, which are currently located on the first floor of a building on Belle Vue Terrace.

"The council feel that 28-30 Church Street is a prominent and well located building in the heart of the town centre and that occupying this building will allow the town council to be much more accessible to the public and so better serve the community of Malvern.

"Malvern Town Council has put in an offer to purchase 28-30 Church Street, previously known as the NatWest bank.

"The outcome of this tender process has yet to be formally confirmed."

A NatWest spokesman said they are progressing with a preferred bidder but did not want to comment further.

It is understood that the town council has also discussed taking over the Tourist Information Centre (TIC) from Malvern Hills District Council.

Sources claim Malvern Town Council is now considering moving the TIC into the NatWest building.

The district council previously decided to sell the TIC building and move the service into a new £1.5m premises, which would be built on top of Priory Lodge.

But the plan was halted after Historic England designated Priory Lodge, in Avenue Road, as a Grade II listed building.

Over 3,500 people signed a paper petition against the move.

A spokesman for Malvern Hills District Council said: "We’re not involved in the sale of the NatWest building and haven’t been officially informed of any plans regarding its future use or potential bidders.

"However, we hope the building will be brought back into use as soon as possible.

"Regarding the TIC, we’ve always stated that we would retain the TIC in the town and we continue to explore all options about how to do that."