Plan to sell city centre building and move services

Derby City Council is planning to relocate the city's Register Office and Coroner's Court to a new site so it can sell the historic building they currently occupy.

The authority intends to move the services from Royal Oak House, off Market Place, to the Riverside Chambers in Full Street.

The announcement has come after plans to change the use of the Riverside Chambers from office space to a register office were approved on Tuesday.

Council leader Nadine Peatfield said at a meeting in December that the authority wanted to sell the 18th-Century Royal Oak House to the hospitality or cultural sector.

At the meeting, Peatfield said the new location would be better for couples because the Riverside Chambers was in a more attractive location.

She said couples would have the backdrop of the River Derwent rather than the Assembly Rooms.

The Riverside Chambers was built between 1932 and 1934 and has previously been used as a police station and a magistrates' court.

Plans to relocate Derby Coroner's Court to the riverside site were announced earlier on Wednesday.

If approved, the new location would provide more room for the public and legal professionals, including two courtrooms and larger waiting areas, the council said.

These plans are due to be considered on Wednesday 11 February.

A business centre currently based at Riverside Chambers would remain on the upper floors, it was confirmed.

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