A DERELICT building will be transformed into an art shop, wine and coffee bar and restaurant, creating more than 20 jobs.

Harwood House, Great Harwood, which started life in 1910 as the Jubilee Building and was owned by the Co-op, was a huge operation housing furniture, food and banking. But it is now being prepared for a new lease of life for townsfolk, artists and historians who will be able to enjoy its renewed splendour.

The work is the brainchild of the Sharples family -- sisters Beverley Sharples and Angela Glynn, their dad Robert and mum Kathleen -- who bought the building in Glebe Street in March last year.

Beverley, 28, a student at Accrington and Rossendale College, said: "I have lived in Great Harwood for six years. We kept going past thinking, 'what a fantastic building'.

"That's when my sister and I started doing market research and asked people in the area what they wanted." They discovered that local residents felt there was nowhere for them to sit and enjoy a leisurely meal or a coffee.

"They wanted somewhere to sit in a pleasant atmosphere without banging music, somewhere quiet and respectable, where older people wouldn't feel threatened," she said.

The ground floor of Harwood House will be home to a wine bar/coffee bar and restaurant, with a separate area for an art shop where local artists can exhibit their work.

Beverley said the basement will be available for artists to use as studio space and the first floor -- a 9,000sq m open plan area -- may in future be turned into a conference centre and function room for dances or use by theatre groups or clubs.

Two people will be needed to work in the shop and possibly 20 or more in the wine bar and function room areas.

The family, backed by site manager David Neild, expect the art shop will open first -- likely to be in late spring.

The coffee/wine bar area is likely to open in late summer but the family need to press for funding to convert the upper floor.

Beverley, who is keen to involve the community in the venture, has made contact with Norden High School at Rishton, whose pupils will be researching the history of the building -- which has 126 windows -- and producing ideas for future design schemes.

Anyone who would like to pass on stories of their working years at Harwood House, or who would like to know more about the art shop or studio ventures, can contact Angela Glynn on 01706 830870.