A TOWN centre revamp could continue with the building of offices for a housing company.

The Sunderland Housing Group, the company set up to take over Sunderland's council housing, wants to build an area office in the centre of Houghton-le-Spring.

It has lodged a planning application with Sunderland City Council for a site at the corner of Station Road and Newbottle Street, opposite the town's new library and learning centre.

The three-storey building will have 1,234sq metres of floor space.

A group spokesman said: "It will be of modern design with extensive glazing in the Newbottle Street and Station Road frontages.

"The plan includes the provision of office accommodation, a staff restaurant, property shop, housing benefit interview rooms, and car parking.''

The development will be the latest in a series of projects that have revamped the centre of the town in the past 18 months.

These include the building of a supermarket by the North Eastern and Cumbrian Co-op and the refurbishment of the Empire building.

City councillors will decide whether to give the go-ahead to the plans in the near future