Senior councillors have backed plans to demolish part of Carlisle Civic Centre.

Its octagonal annex - which houses the council chamber - is poised to be cleared to make way for more car parking.

Members of the authority's ruling executive yesterday agreed to demolition - a move that would see better use made of the ground floor in the Civic Centre's main section.

Those proposals would see the ground floor - unused since being ravaged by floods - used as a "multi-purpose" council chamber, that can be used as a conference and exhibition space.

Deputy chief executive Darren Crossley told executive members of the plans: "We are here now with the final decisions and proposals that I am quite excited with.

"It has been some time since the floods hit, but we wanted do it properly rather than quickly. "

The "multi-purpose" room could be rented out, to provide the council with another income stream, councillors were told.

A new entrance, reception area, customer contact centre and meeting spaces are also part of the redesign, which would all be located on the ground floor of the Civic Centre.

As part of the city's flood fightback, the new ground floor will be flood resilient, meaning it is better protected from future floods.

If the building is hit in the future by flooding, it can be up and running again in a matter of months, rather than years.

The new ground floor will be more accessible for those with disabilities and dementia and will also have better acoustics to make communication in the chamber better.

Plans will now go in front of the full council at a meeting on April 24 and will also be subject to planning permission at a later date.