The owner of the former Debenhams site on Parliament Street in Harrogate has unveiled plans to demolish it to make way for a brand new building that includes four floors of "high quality" apartments.

Wetherby-based property firm Stirling Prescient has posted a notice on the window of the former department store about its plans for the site, which has been empty since Debenhams closed for good in January this year.

It says the owner wants to build a new five-floor structure with retail, leisure and food and drink units on the ground floor and 1,2 and 3-bedroom apartments on the upper floors. There would also be a basement floor for car parking and bicycle storage.

The site had been a retail staple on Parliament Street for over a century. Before Debenhams, it housed the Buckley's and Busby's stores.

The statement adds there is no longer demand for the Victorian-era building to be used as a department store and it is not suitable for conversion to smaller units due to the building's layout and age.

It warns if the building cannot be brought back into use the empty building could become an "eyesore" and "blight the high street".

Read more:

• Staff let go as Harrogate Debenhams will not reopen


• Harrogate shoppers say Debenhams will be much missed

The Stray Ferret has approached Stirling Prescient for more information about the development.

No formal planning application has been submitted but the owner is inviting comments from the public at the following email address: planning@westminsterhouseharrogate.co.uk

Read Harrogate historian Malcolm Neesam's history of the Debenhams building here.