A BID to convert a crumbling former supermarket into a food hall could now be scrapped under new plans to demolish the building.

The old Co-op building in Angel Street in Worcester was supposed to be transformed into a new food hall and offices as part of multi-million-pound regeneration plans by Worcester City Council but now bosses are flirting with the idea of demolishing the eyesore building, which has been empty since 2016, because of its crumbling concrete and “limited life.”

The council’s managing director David Blake warned the former supermarket was in a poor condition and, with its budget continuing to rise, the food hall plan could be scrapped altogether.

“It’s fair to say now that we are looking again at the building because of the condition,” he told the council’s policy and resources committee at a meeting in the Guildhall on September 8.

Worcester News:

“It’s not in good condition, the concrete surveys that we have done show that it does have a limited life, it may be actually better that we knock the building down and do something else with it.

“If we go down a different route … in terms of demolition of the building rather than refurbishment, there are other grants available to us.

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“That’s speculative, I know, but just to give some reassurance that we are looking at alternative options both in terms of how we bring the full building back into use and how we access alternative funding streams.”

Mr Blake also said questioned the need for two food halls in the city centre with the High Street’s landmark former Debenhams store set to re-open as a new venue at some point in the future.

“We’re still hoping that the ex-Debenham’s building opens one day, we’ll see… it’s been a long time,” he said. “But we don’t think there’s enough demand in the city for two of those types of retail unit so we would have to rethink the ground floor.

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Bringing a new food hall to Angel Place was included in the council’s successful £18 million bid to the government which also includes plans to build a new arts venue at the neighbouring Scala Theatre.

A plan to convert the space into a Victorian-style gin bar was rejected by Worcester City Council’s planning committee in 2018.