A fruit and vegetable shop building in a busy district centre is set to become four new retail units.

The existing greengrocers occupies the ground floor while the upper storey is currently empty.

Hamidraza Isa now wants to turn the whole building in Whalley Range, Blackburn, into four modern shops.

The conversion also involved the addition of double-storey rear extension, a replacement shop front and the insertion of first floor display windows

He has applied to Blackburn with Darwen Council for planning permission for the changes.

A supporting statement submitted by Nazia Shah of Urban Future Planning Consultancy Ltd says: "The application site is located within the vibrant Whalley Range local district centre, within a designated shopping parade.

"The double-fronted application property has been occupied by a fruit and veg shop for several decades with the upper floor in a vacant and poorly maintained condition.

"The applicant seeks to put both floors to effective use through a high-quality reconfiguration of the ground floor in to two retail units and the conversion of the upper floor in to two retail units with a contemporary glazed shopfront / display window.

"The proposed development will promote consumer choice and result in new-business formation and job creation in times of great economic uncertainty.

"The application site comprises a two-storey, double-fronted mid-terrace property located within a commercialised setting with a range of shops and local services present.

"The site is located within a readily accessible location with excellent public transport links and readily accessible on foot.

"The Whalley Range designated local district centre serves the nearby residential catchment area with users mostly attending on foot.

"Internally, the double-fronted retail unit would be reconfigured to include two individual retail units at the ground floor and two individual retail units at the first floor, each of which accessed via a single access point at the ground floor.

"Permitting the proposal will bring about additional job creation for local people as well as a positive supply-chain impact

"The site is located within a high-density Victorian terrace setting and with many properties having been generously extended.

"Many adjacent upper floor commercial units now feature full length display windows similar to that being sought within the application scheme.

"In fact, a number of units within the same row feature similar aspects. As such, the proposal will assimilate."