THE former headquarters for British Steel and Redcar and Cleveland Council is set for a £1.5m overhaul to preserve its heritage.

Python Properties has started work transforming the Cargo Fleet building into business space, which will also include a heritage centre celebrating the areas steel working history.

The extensive restoration project of the three-storey Edwardian building will involve creating 40,000sqft of business/office space primarily targeting local businesses.

And working alongside Teesside University, the Middlesbrough-based property developer will establish a heritage centre within the building, looking at the history of ironworks, steelmaking and ship building in this area.

Peter Broome, Python Properties partner, said: "The building is an industrial landmark in the region well known to many local people. It was originally built by Cargo Fleet Iron Company in 1916 and has so much history and stories. Steel making has always been at the heart of the region so we hope we are in some way paying respect to our heritage.

"The redevelopment has been described as a beacon project, which will not only restore the building to its former glory but will also inspire and help to regenerate the surrounding communities."

Joan Heggie, of the British Steel Archive Project at Teesside University, welcomed the inclusion of the heritage centre.

She said: "The Cargo Fleet building is one of very few left in the area which connects people to Teesside's important iron and steel heritage. The heritage centre could be a conduit helping reconnect the physical structure with documents, plans, photographs and business records held at Teesside Archives about the building itself, the industry, the people of Cargo Fleet as well as the wider geographical area over the last 150 years."

Assisted by Tees Valley Unlimited, the firm has secured £400,000 grant funding from the Single Program fund of One NorthEast to redevelop the site on Cargo Fleet Lane, South Bank, near Middlesbrough.

The company has already successfully regenerated five major buildings in the North - the Royal Middlehaven House and The Cooperative Building, both in Middlesbrough, Maxwell's Corner and The Town House in Stockton and Bank Quay House in Warrington.