THE design of a new parade of shops to replace a redundant town centre health hub has finally been agreed.

Councillors has been deadlocked over the design for two months but last week finally agreed on the look of the development in the middle of Colne.

The group of four shops with at least10 flats above will replace the vacant former health centre in Market Street between Richmond Court and The Red Lion public house.

Pendle Council has owned the premises for two years after the NHS replaced it in May 2014 with a new health centre in Craddock Road.

In January the borough's Colne and District Committee deferred a decision on the design after Conservative members complained the original design did not fit in with the surrounding buildings.

After two informal meetings with architects and the objectors, a new design tailor to match Colne's existing townscape was agreed.

Planning permission was passed unanimously at Thursday's meeting of the district committee.

The health centre will be demolished soon with building work on the retail parade starting later this summer for completion next year.

Cllr Tony Greaves, deputy leader of Pendle Council and Liberal Democrat representative for Waterside, said: "This is really good news for Colne.

"The new building will be built to match as far as possible the traditional 'Pennine shops' in the town centre.

"It will be built in real stone with blue slate roofs with a number of traditional features.

"We agreed on the overall design, which is intended to be in keeping as far as possible with the old shops on that side of the main street.

"We now have a building that will be a real boost to our town.

"The health centre is a less than attractive building and it's well past its sell-by date."

Vivary Bridge Conservative Councillor Joe Cooney said: “We weren’t prepared to accept a design that isn’t going to bring a positive impact to the town.

"The changes we insisted on in terms of windows, stonework and general appearance will make it fit in far better with the other traditional buildings in the town centre and the Red Lion pub which it adjoins."

The development will be undertaken by PEARL, Pendle Council's joint venture development company with Barnfield Investment Properties.