THE Grade II listed building which housed Dalton Library for over a century is set to be converted into seven flats.

Dalton Library was sold for £104,000 - £16k below Cumbria County Council's worst-case scenario guide price - at a sale by Pugh auctioneers last December.

And now, Ulverston-based Robert Jackson, of Woodland Road, has submitted a planning application to convert the three-storey building into seven flats - two with one bedroom, three with two bedrooms and two with three bedrooms.

The application does not include any details for parking provision, which is likely to prove an issue to both planners and potential residents, with Nelson Street being a busy road which is used by many to get to and from Dowdales School.

The sale of the building came following Cumbria County Council’s decision to shut the library's doors and transfer the service to the town’s community centre, known locally as the Drill Hall, across the road. The re-located hub opened its doors in October.

The application has been submitted to Barrow Borough Council's planning department, with the committee due to reach a decision by a target date of June 19.

Any proposed changes to the Grade II-listed building in Nelson Street will also be subject to close scrutiny from Historic England, a public body dedicated to championing the nation’s heritage.

The fact that the library, built in 1905, is one of 660 Carnegie libraries - named after the philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, who paid for them - in the UK is likely to afford it greater protection in terms of its historical significance.