'Eyesore' shop building in town centre restored

A former tailoring shop that became "an eyesore" in a town centre has been restored.

Long Eaton's old Burton building, built to house the men's outfitting chain in 1935, was left in "disrepair", according to Erewash Borough Council.

The previous owners rejected a council offer of a grant to improve the building's appearance, the authority said, and it sought an order which compelled repairs.

This led to the sale of the building, and the new owner, businessman Sam Skidmore, accepted a £10,000 grant from the borough council which allowed the building's frontage to be restored.

The Section 215 notice under the Town and Country Planning Act could have led to the council doing the work itself before sending the previous owners a bill.

However, the site was sold before this to Skidmore, who is also director of Sawley-based design experts F&S Consultants, and has "a passion for Long Eaton", the council said.

The £10,000 was contributed to the project via the authority's Shopfront Improvement Grant scheme.

Skidmore said a sensory cafe is now set to open in one of the building's three ground floor units.

"The whole concept is really exciting – and the owners are really lovely. It will hopefully attract more people to the high street," he said.

The other units house a barbers and an electrical store, while the first floor is home to a nightclub.

Curtis Howard, the council's lead member for planning and regeneration, said: "The Burton building boasts such heritage we were not prepared to see it left as an eyesore.

"Long Eaton deserves better than that. What we are doing is putting absentee landlords on notice that they cannot just leave our town centres to rot."

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