Accrington Town Hall is set for further investment of £300,000.

Hyndburn Council said the ‘second phase’ of restoration work will see the balcony area restored, improvements made to public toilets and the addition of extra catering facilities to allow for more functions.

The ballroom at the Town Hall has just undergone a successful refurbishment as part of the ‘first phase’ of works with the costs coming in at £710,000 - £40,000 less than estimated.

The works have included a new stage, two new bars, a dance floor and other modernisations.

Hyndburn council leader Miles Parkinson told a cabinet meeting last week that there are ‘ongoing discussions’ with Accrington and Rossendale College and other outside caterers ‘on the overall delivery of facilities in the Town Hall’.

He said: “We had a very successful event on Saturday night where we invited local businesses and groups to come to the ballroom and witness the refurbishment.

“There are still changes coming for the balcony and the most important rooms, the rest rooms for ladies and gentleman, which will be refurbished both upstairs and downstairs and the foyer which is due to be repainted.

“We also intent to use art at the Haworth Art Gallery that isn’t seen in general use for display on the walls and we want to keep on making improvements inside.”

The overall cost of the scheme is expected to reach £300,000 and will be undertaken by existing contractor Hambling who won the initial competitive tender last summer.

Coun Parkinson said: “The vision for the Town Hall and Market Hall is to light those buildings up in different colours along with other buildings to enhance the area.

“I would also like to investigate looking at projecting on those buildings like we have in other major cities and, if there is an event, we could project those businesses or conferences onto the buildings.

“I do remember Accrington Academy projecting onto the Town Hall a few years ago and it looked absolutely fantastic.”