A FORMER skate park could be transformed into an antiques centre and auction house if council officers rubber-stamp the plans.

The owners of Kings Mill Antiques Centre are hoping to relocate their Harle Syke operation to Bank Hall works, Colne Road.

A planning application to change the site, which most recently housed Interact skate park, has been submitted to Burnley Council.

Michael Heuer, who owns Kings Mill Antiques Centre, said the new premises could be unveiled next month if the plans are approved.

According to Mr Heuer each of the nine people employed at the Queen Street site would make the move to Bank Hall Works.

The relocation could also pave the way for a small number of extra positions being made available in the future, he said.

Once the move goes ahead none of Kings Mill Antiques Centre will remain in Harle Syke.

Mr Heuer said: “We’re relocating because it’s a bigger and better building for our purpose.

“We have been working on it now for six to eight weeks, removing the skate park.

“We’re going to refurbish and redecorate and we will be doing the landscaping to make it a nice place for people to visit.

“Providing all goes to plan we could be open at the beginning of November.”

The Bank Hall Works building previously housed the local colliery offices. Mr Heuer said he planned to acknowledge the building’s history and heritage with a feature once they had moved in.

The site’s owners, James Pollard and Sons, of Worsthorne, have seen previous bids to convert the site into offices turned down.

Bank Hall councillor Gary Frayling said it was “very Important” that the site was brought back into use.

He added: “As long as traffic doesn’t get too much down there I don’t think it will be a problem.

“There’s a lot of wildlife around there and I want to make sure it doesn’t come to any harm. The antiques centre is a respected business and I think it should stay in Burnley.”