Plans have been revealed for a Workington town centre building to be knocked down to make way for a 54-space car park.

An application has been made to Allerdale council to demolish buildings currently used by the county council's adult social care and children services on New Oxford Street.

Workington Town Council has already objected to the plans - as part of a consultation launched by Allerdale Council - as it deems the demolition unnecessary.

Last month the county council announced plans to relocate staff from its current site to West Cumbria House, at Lillyhall, alongside the HMRC call centre.

The move is set to happen in October at the earliest, once all paperwork has been completed.

A design and access statement by Stuart Eve, agent for applicant Mr Byers, said: "The tenancy of the building is due to terminate in the near future, leaving a large, dilapidated office block with no obvious commercially viable use and without significant investment or redevelopment is considered a liability in the short term.

"The most viable use for the site has therefore been identified as additional public car parking to supplement existing parking and support the popular shopping precinct in very close proximity."

The 0.18-hectare site would also provide space for cycle parking.

In its response to the consultation launched by Allerdale council, the town council said: "The committee discussed the dominance of the building, as a part of the landscape in Workington town centre and how this would be affected by its demolition. It was noted that although the building required some remediation that demolition should be unnecessary.

"The plans for the car park raised some concerns about Disability Discrimination Act compliance and the management of traffic flow on the already busy road."

Chris Bagshaw, town clerk, said: "The particular issue raised was that the proposed site for the parking charge machine was not compliant because it was not adjacent to the disabled parking bays, among others."

Councillors also noted that the application was not supported by a traffic management plan or programme for demolition.

Mr Bagshaw added: "Councillors felt there should be alternative use for the building that isn't just another car park."

People can comment until September 13.