The former post office building in Whitehaven town centre is set for a revamp under new plans for the historic site.

In an application to Copeland Borough Council, developers Servitium Ltd have proposed a vision to transform the building, located at 70 Lowther Street, into a complex consisting of eight new flats.

The three-storey building was previously occupied by the Post Office at ground floor level with a BBC Radio Cumbria office on the first floor and Whitehaven Offices on the second floor.

If the development gets the go-ahead, it will mark a landmark change for the building, with the first and second floor levels having always been used as offices before May 29, 2013 when the site was last occupied.

The building is located within a conservation area, but is not listed.

The applicants said that the plans would represent a positive development for the area in general and would form part of the wider Copeland Borough Council Local Plan, which outlines a vision to increase the amount of affordable properties for residents in the area.

“The proposal provides much needed residential units in the borough,” they said.

The development represents a welcome new lease of life for the building, which hit the news last year after a drug's den was discovered inside.

The Whitehaven community was shocked after a huge cannabis farm was discovered within the premises of the building in May.

Speaking at the time, Brian O’ Kane, chairman of Whitehaven Town Council, expressed disbelief that the farm was found in a building so near to a police station.

He said: “I think everybody is in genuine deep shock.

“Knowing the extensive nature of that building internally and the location, you just can’t believe it.”

The cannabis factory, which police described as a “£1m facility”, was raided with the farm found to encompass 30 rooms on three floors of the premises.

It is estimated there were about 1,300 cannabis plants at the property.

Albanian nationals Xhona Leka, 28, and Gjergi Braculla, 39, subsequently appeared at the magistrates’ court in Carlisle, jointly facing two charges.

The pair were jailed in September for more than three years.