A FORMER nightclub which was once the pinnacle of Barrow’s nightlife could be converted into a hotel, The Mail can exclusively reveal.

Club M in Cornwallis Street was put on the market for offers around £1m last November along with The Cry and Skint in Lawson Street.

The listings followed a request last May from Barrow Borough Council for One Leisure to carry out work on both Kavanna's and The Cry in a bid to improve the appearance of Cornwallis Street.

Now The Mail can exclusively reveal that an offer has been made for Club M by an out-of-town developer.

Estate agent David Corrie said the prospective buyer, whose offer is “favourable”, would look to convert the former nightclub into a hotel.

"We've had a lot of strong interest in Club M," he said.

"We've taken an offer and we have put that offer to the owner; it's quite favourable.

"It will be a hotel; that is their intention.

"It's clear there is a demand for it."

Durham-based firm One Leisure bought around 80 per cent of the properties in Cornwallis Street, including the Rick Lucas empire of the Imperial hotel and Kavanna’s, Martinis/Club M and Scorpio/Skint, back in 2007.

They were originally sold by Mr Lucas to Gem Leisure in 2004 for £4.3m but within months Gem Leisure folded with financial troubles.

One Leisure bought the group of venues from administrator Begbie Traynor for significantly less than £4m.

Club M, the biggest of the three properties, was last open in 2015.

Along with a recent expansion to the recently-opened Premier Inn by the Dock Museum a further 127 rooms will become available in Barrow when the Holiday Inn opens on the site of the former police station in Market Street.

Lancaster Brewery boss Phil Simpson, who owns the Duke of Edinburgh in Barrow and The Mill in Ulverston, believes the hotel industry in Barrow is becoming saturated and small venues will be the first to suffer as a result.

"Holiday Inn will tip the balance," he said.

"Once that opens there will be ramifications."