PLANS have been put forward to turn an empty building in Darlington town centre into a pub.

JD Wetherspoon has applied to Darlington Borough Council for planning permission to change the former First Freeze store, in Crown Street, into a bar.

The company already run the Tanners Hall pub in Skinnergate.

That pub would continue to operate alongside the new premises, which will be part of the Lloyds Number One chain.

A spokeswoman for JD Wetherspoon said: "The Lloyds venues are different to our other pubs because they have music and some have late licences from Thursday to Saturday.

"There will be music all day, and television screens, and it will be more like a wine bar than a pub. The Lloyds bars aim to attract younger people and are slightly more trendy."

The spokeswoman said she was unsure whether the company would apply for a late licence for the pub if planning permission was granted.

The freezer shop has been closed for more than two years and developers have been looking to rent or sell it on to a new company.

The empty shop was bought by the Rachel Charitable Trust, the new owner of the town's Cornmill Shopping Centre, last year.

The trust had planned to create a bridge from the shopping centre to the Crown Street car park.

They had also hoped to develop the car park so that more people could use it.

Management agent for the trust, John Prestwick had said the development plans would mean the empty shop being demolished, removing a "blot on the landscape".

But if JD Wetherspoon gets planning permission, it is believed the trust will rent the building to the chain.

Manager of the Cornmill Shopping Centre, Albion Small, said: "If JD Wetherspoon got planning permission for the building they would then have to rent it from the owners of the centre."

Darlington Borough Council will decide in the coming weeks whether to allow the development.

The company would then have to apply for a drinks licence