Sandwell Council has said it is to relocate staff from its housing department to Wednesbury Town Hall, according to Housing News.

The move comes as the area's Black Country Town Hall is set to undergo a £500,000 transformation.

The local authority will spend £300,000 on the move and will contribute a further £200,000 to improve the building's facilities for community groups.

Work is expected to begin on the scheme within a matter of weeks, with a scheduled completion date for the new year.

Councillor Mahboob Hussain, Deputy Leader at Sandwell Council and Cabinet Member for Town and Neighbourhood Services, said a meeting had been held with local councillors Elaine Costigan, Olwen Jones and Pam Hughes where they had called for investment to be made into the Holyhead Road-based hall and the work was in response to the demand.

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Councillor Hussain explained: "We have seen a lot of activities with the community using the town hall and we will be doing quite a lot of repair work to the building.

"It has already been agreed to spend £300,000 for the housing department to move and a further £200,000 where we will be encouraging local community groups to use that.

"I have recently had a review of the town halls in Wednesbury and West Bromwich as to what usage they can have.

"In Wednesbury it is well-used as a community place so we will encourage more community use, whereas in West Bromwich it is a completely different story and it is more events.

"Because the town hall hasn't been used for many years and never received any investment it will be offices, decorating, moving computer equipment and replacing the kitchen."

Around 20 housing staff, based in portable buildings in Wednesbury town centre, will be moved into the new premises next year.

In May, the West Bromwich Town Hall in High Street had been designated as a comedy and entertainment venue. The potential to use the Grade II listed building as office space for council staff was also being looked at by the authority.

(JP/IT)