A planning application to divide up a grade II listed former bank building to improve its layout as a retail unit has been approved.

The applicant, The Trustees Of The JG Charitable Trust, has had plans to make internal alterations to the former Beccles HSBC building given the green light by East Suffolk Council.

As part of the approved plans existing partitions and cash desks will be thrown out which documents say will "make the property more desirable as a retail unit".

Plans add that the redundant bank partitions and counters, which will now be removed, were installed in 2010.

The plans add that the building in its "current form is undesirable for most retailers" and it is "imperative that a building in such a prime and important position" is brought back into use.

The property, which is between a Boots chemist and a Nationwide bank, has been vacant since June 2023 after the town council and MP Peter Aldous lost a battle to keep it open.

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A planning statement said it is held that proposals would improve the "usefulness" of the venue and thus make it more marketable to prospective tenants.

The plans add that the changes to the building will "preserve the character and appearance" of the listed building and the area in the town centre.

A condition for the work being approved is that work must commence within three years.