CUMBRIAN BUILDER BIDS TO BUY CARLISLE'S FORMER POST OFFICE '

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CUMBRIAN BUILDER BIDS TO BUY CARLISLE'S FORMER POST OFFICE 'TO CREATE JOBS'

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Carlisle's former main post office is on the verge of being sold to a local firm who have promised to restore it to its former glory.

The post office in Warwick Road, one of the city’s most prominent buildings, closed in April 2008. The Edwardian building has stood empty ever since.

But a Wigton firm is in the final stages of talks to take on the city landmark.

AMW Contractors Ltd has plans to revamp the building, retaining original features and character.

It then wants to rent out the ground floor – formerly used as the post office counter area – with the upper floors to be transformed into flats.

In March 2009, a year after the post office branch moved to WH Smith in English Street, the building was put up for sale for offers of around £750,000.

AMW is now said to be under contract to buy the building from Post Office Limited, but the exact selling price is not yet known.

The sale was due to have been completed on Friday but has been put on hold pending further meetings in December.

In the meantime, the firm has submitted an application to Carlisle City Council for permission to demolish single story buildings at the back of the post office. They are not part of the original structure.

Mark Walker, managing director of AMW Contractors, said he was confident the sale would be completed before Christmas and said he wants to “restore the building to its former glory”.

Mr Walker said: “I am not buying the post office to sit on it. I am looking to do something that will create jobs. There will be a visible improvement in the building.

“This is something really positive for Carlisle. This is a prominent local building so I want to retain its facade and character.”

The firm wants to pull down the additional buildings at the back of the post office, believed to have been used as a store, in order to open out the building.

A statement by AMW’s agents included in the planning application says: “The demolitions are required in order to facilitate the refurbishment and reuse of the ground floor of the building as access to this part of the building is restricted by the structures being demolished.”

It also adds that parts of the single story buildings are unsafe.

Mr Walker said: "Removing them will allow the building to be accessed from both sides.

“This will bring huge improvements to the surrounding area.

“The idea is to salvage as much as we can, so that we can mend the building’s scars with materials from the era.”

The planning application adds that the demolition works will expose parts of original building. AMW’s expects that the single story buildings will have obscured some of the original design features such as door and window opening detail.

It adds reclaiming these feature will enhance the appeal for residential accommodation on the upper floors.

The post office was built by well-known Carlisle firm John Laing & Son, responsible for several of the city’s most famous landmarks.

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Mr Walker said: “I am not buying the post office to sit on it. I am looking to do something that will create jobs. There will be a visible improvement in the building.
Another Wetherspoons.