Luxury apartments and retail units plan on the cards for prominent Burnley town centre building

The property, at the foot of Manchester Road, which was home to the town's branch of the Halifax Building Society for many years, has been bought by well known property developer Ian Walker.

The three storey building, next to The Brun Lea pub, had been on the market with a guide price of £150,000 and Mr Walker revealed that he faced competition from several out of town investors to buy it.

He plans to create nine luxury apartments, including two penthouse apartments, and four retail units on the ground floor.

Speaking about his latest acquisition Mr Walker said: "The fact there was so much competition for this building shows there is a lot of investor interest in Burnley which can only be a good thing for the future of the town."

After the Halifax re-located to Curzon Street the building was home to Maysons Solicitors and later the charity, Bootstrap Enterprises, opened a branch in the building.

The owner of the Ian Walker Property Group, the Manchester Road building is just one of around 150 properties Mr Walker owns across the North West, including several in his hometown of Burnley.

His Burnley portfolio includes the former home of the law firm SFN in Red Lion Street and the former Garden Bar and the Bees Knees bar which he converted into apartments and shops.

And until last year, when he sold the building, Mr Walker owned the former Burnley Express office. He transformed the landmark building in Bull Street into 14 apartments with retail units on the ground floor.

Mr Walker spent around £750,000 on refurbishing the building that was home to the Burnley Express for around 84 years.

Although he has properties across the North West Mr Walker has always said that his heart belongs in Burnley and it is the place where he loves to be.

He added: "The fact that other investors are seeing the potential of our town is very encouraging."

News of the plans for the Manchester Road building comes hot on the heels of a planning application being submitted to Burnley Council outlining plans for 26 luxury apartments to be created at the old contact centre in Parker Lane.

The application outlines plans for the apartments to be built across four levels of the vacant building on the corner of Parker Lane and Red Lion Street.

The planning application has been submitted by LMC Architecture on behalf of Jones Properties.