THE historic White Bull Hotel building in Blackburn is getting a spruce up and lick of paint as the new town centre takes shape around it.

The landmark former inn on the corner of Church Street and Railway Road , turned into a Ladbrokes betting shop in 2013, is surrounded by scaffolding as the work takes place.

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The improvement and maintenance is being done by owners’ Daniel Thwaites brewery who in the past used it as their flagship residential premises.

It has been welcomed by Blackburn with Darwen regeneration boss Phil Riley as further evidence of town centre businesses pulling together to back the council’s improvement plans. Ladbrokes spent £200,000 on transforming the former Thwaites premises into a major gambling venue employing five staff.

The work comes as the Premier Inn and new six-storey office black on the nearby £34 million Cathedral Quarter undergo final preparations for their official openings next month and work gathers place on the new bus station opposite.

Thwaites director of pubs and brewing Andrew Buchanan said: “We are giving the building a spruce up as part of our normal programme of maintenance. It is a significant building and we want to keep it in good repair.

“We are painting the windows and checking the parapets to make sure everything is in a good state.

“With everything going on around it in the town centre, we want to make sure this property is in proper repair and as it should be.”

Cllr Riley said: “ It shows how everyone is getting behind our plans to revive Blackburn town centre and pulling together.”

The White Bull dates back to 1739, was rebuilt in 1852 and underwent a lavish make-over in the late-1950s. The pub part operated as The Jam bar and later was known as Essential, a late-night bar.