THE former Derwent Athletics Club building, originally a temporary classroom built after the war to accommodate more pupils in the All Saints School in Cockermouth, is set to be demolished.

According to the Kirkgate Centre, which owns the site, the building was never designed to have lasted so long, and with asbestos in its fabric and the condition deteriorating over the years, the centre says 'it is time to say farewell'.

A spokesman for the Kirkgate Centre said: "We have employed the skills of a local asbestos removal and demolition firm to complete the clearance of the site. Their first stage is to safely remove all the asbestos containing building materials, which will begin on May 1, and then clear the interior.

"We are anticipating this work to take approximately one week."

Once a planning application has been approved, demolition will begin and is expected to take a week.

The spokesman added: "The building was purchased by an anonymous donor and passed on to Kirkgate Arts with a long-term aim in mind.

"We hope to be able to enrich and increase the heritage side of our activities with a purpose-built centre on the footprint of the former classroom. We are working on a funding application to the Heritage Lottery Fund for money to cover stage one of the redevelopment.

"We want to encourage everyone to join us on this journey, as this resource would be for the town as a whole. A place not just to look at artefacts, but for young and old, locals and visitors alike to understand and engage with Cockermouth's, and the surrounding area's, past as well as produce and maintain the heritage collection of the future."