A HISTORIC town centre building is to be restored to its former glory thanks to a National Lottery-funded heritage initiative.

Work on the £400,000 renovations of The Exchange at numbers 99 to 101 Blackburn Rd, Accrington, have begun.

They are part of Hyndburn Council’s £3million Townscape Heritage Initiative.

The project has seen the transformation of Accrington Town Square and the improvement to four buildings on Blackburn Road.

Much of the cash comes from the National Lottery Heritage Fund with the rest from the borough council.

Owner of The Exchange Mohammed Shafi Karbhari received a 90 per cent grant of £364,734 towards the work to restore the frontage of this beautiful, historic building.

Cllr PaulCox, Hyndburn Council’s cabinet member for Accrington town centre and deputy leader, welcomed the renovation and promised more to come in the near future.

Numbers 99-101 Blackburn Road are a single property in a large and distinguished stone terrace historically known as The Exchange.

The building is opposite another long row of more modest earlier shops on the opposite side of Blackburn Road and was built between 1900 and 1910 while nearby Burtons Chambers followed in the late 1920s.

It was designed by prominent Accrington architect Henry Ross. The client, a costumer called D. Flack, wanted a flamboyant façade with large areas of window glazing. The shop front was considered the finest in the row.

Cllr Cox said: “The Town Square has been the backdrop to a full year of events and it is great to see the focus on the further assets within the priority area.

“We are happy we could facilitate business owners’ grant applications to the Heritage Lottery Fund and help him progress their schemes through the design and planning stages. Residents and visitors will see the end result of this restoration by the end of the summer. Work is beginning to promote this building to the market as an attractive space for retail or leisure.”

Cllr Tony Dobson, leader of Hyndburn Council’s Conservative group, said: “I am pleased this building is being restored. It good to see Accrington town centre being refurbished and revived.”