Work to begin on restoring former post office's Victorian façade

As well as the restoration work, environmental improvements will also be made to the front of the building at 17-18 Cornhill over the coming months.

A façade retention system was in place for nine months while the rest of the building, much of it built at a later date, was demolished.

This retention system was removed last month and now scaffolding has started to go up at the Cornhill front.

Restoration work to the Victorian frontage is due to start (Image: West Suffolk Council)

This will allow restoration work to take place alongside the installation of new windows, to help make the building more energy efficient.

Solar panels will also be installed, with Air Source Heat Pump (ASHP) used to heat the property.

Susan Glossop, West Suffolk Council’s cabinet member for growth, said: “The Victorian front is an important part of our town’s history and heritage.

"This scaffolding enables work to further help protect and enhance the front which is in the town centre conservation area.

"Not only that, but it also enables us to carry out improvements that will help us achieve our environmental ambitions for this site, for the businesses that will work there and the residents who will live there."

Once completed next year, West Suffolk Council’s redevelopment on the site will include two ground floor commercial units with 12 flats above.

It will also bring the historic frontage back into economic use, deliver a wider walkway at Market Thoroughfare and create a new business front onto St Andrew's Street South.

The project was shaped by thousands of public comments as part of work on the town centre masterplan, which was adopted by the council in December 2017.