Plans have been submitted to renovate a North Tyne town hall, with hopes that the first part of the work will be completed ahead of its 160th anniversary next year.

Details have emerged of the work that is hoped to be carried out on Bellingham Town Hall, which is located in the middle of the town.

The hall, which was built in 1862, is a Grade II listed building, and it is hoped that work can be carried out on several areas of it including the replacement and repair of floors, a new kitchen, double glazed windows and new doors being installed.

If the proposals are successful when they go before a planning committee, the work will be split into several phases, with the first part hoping to be ready in time for the 160th anniversary in 2022.

Currently the premises is managed by the Bellingham Town Hall Committee and has been one of the most used locations in the town.

The listed building features several interesting features including a wooden clock tower and spire as well as the town’s shield and coat of arms that sits underneath the clock tower itself.

If approved, the work will first see the windows replaced after it has been deemed that they are now rotten and also let draughts into the hall as a result.

These will be changed with more modern and efficient double glazed windows with the wooden frames being finished in white.

The double doors at the entrance to the hall would also be replaced as part of the first stage of the works along with the side entrance door and the fire exit doors also.

Stage two of the building work would then tackle the iron railings surrounding the property, with them either being replaced or repaired in the process.

The railings in question would also remain identical to the ones currently in place at the hall.

After this, the applicants hope to then start work on the inside of the building which they also believe is in need of a refurbishment as part of the works.

They hope to replace both the floor of the hall, as well as the stage floor as well before then moving onto the building’s staircases to carry out further refurbishment.

The work that is carried out is planned to not affect the history of the building, with no changes being made to the car parking area located next to the property also.

To view the planning application, head to https://publicaccess.northumberland.gov.uk/online-applications/ and use the reference number 21/00029/LBC.