A new bar with a retro-themed arcade is set to move into an eyesore city centre building after plans were backed by the council.

The new Victorian-themed nightspot called Carousel, which is designed to mimic a merry-go-round, includes a bar, restaurant and arcade filled with retro and modern games and a rooftop bar.

The application by Lindum Leisure to convert the former Argos store in The Shambles, Worcester, has been approved by planning officers at Worcester City Council.

The two-floor plans include space for food and cocktails as well as classic arcade games such as air hockey, pinball machines, a basketball hoop, driving simulators and dance machines and interactive darts, beer pong, shuffleboard and quickdraw shooting.

The former Argos store closed in 2021 and has been empty since.

Worcester News: EYESORE: The former Argos store in The ShamblesEYESORE: The former Argos store in The Shambles (Image: Newsquest)

One comment made on the plan during public consultation welcomed the move saying he was happy to see the former Argos store rejuvenated, calling the Shambles building a “complete eyesore” and a “rancid hallmark of 1960s planning.”

The Shambles, one of the city’s main shopping streets, was spruced up in 2019 at a cost of more than a million pounds with the thoroughfare’s bumpy and crumbling surface, which was a patchwork of makeshift repairs, replaced alongside new lights and benches.

Worcester News: VIEW: An artist's impression of the proposed rooftop bar at the new Carousel bar in The ShamblesVIEW: An artist's impression of the proposed rooftop bar at the new Carousel bar in The Shambles (Image: GD:iD)

There are still several empty units in The Shambles including the former Argos store as well as buildings left empty by the departure of Greggs, Poundland and Vodafone in recent years.

The approval of the new arcade-themed Carousel bar follows an announcement last month by the owners at retro arcade bar and potential neighbour Retroids that they planned to move to a new building.

Retroids Arcade Bar, which is currently based in nearby New Street in Worcester city centre, is looking to make the move to nearby College Street less than six months after plans to move to another venue fell through.

If plans are given the green light, the bar, which is filled with classic arcade and retro gaming machines and offers a range of craft beers and ciders, would move to a space opposite Worcester Cathedral, in a unit previously home to Worcester Cycle Centre and roughly triple the size of its current space.