A NEW home in Kidderminster looks on the cards for Wyre Forest District Council under proposals currently being studied by a working party.

The bulk of officers currently based at various locations across the district would be brought together on a single site with the sale of properties used to fund the move.

Council leader Councillor Mike Oborski said the move was the last major piece of change following the restructuring of the authority last year.

The announcement that a task group was currently looking at a move came at a presentation on Tuesday on the £60 million redevelopment of Kidderminster town centre.

District council chief executive Walter Delin, developers Centros Miller and Morbaine and representatives from B&Q and Tesco outlined details of the scheme at the town hall.

Councillor Oborski said when the district council was instituted in 1974, it inherited a range of offices belonging to a number of separate authorities.

He said a working party had been looking at the issue for 12 months with the aim of bringing the bulk of 'behind the scenes' officers on to one site.

This is expected to involve about 250 of the 480 council staff.

He said: "This does not mean we would be leaving the whole area unmanned. We would still need some sort of shop front in each of the towns."

Councillor Oborski said the working party was looking at a number of possible locations for a new civic centre but the preferred option was Kidderminster.

He said the move would not affect the present Stourport civic centre's role as a venue for concerts and other social events.

He added: "The scheme has to be self-financing and I would hope we would walk out of this having made a profit, not a loss."