Plans for a £6m office complex next to Workington Railway Station have been scrapped as Cumbria County Council reveals plans to move 160 staff out of the town.

The council announced ambitious plans in 2015 to redevelop Workington Goods Yard into an office for up to 300 staff.

It was part of a proposal to cut the number of county council offices across Allerdale and Copeland from 11 to two.

At the time it said it wanted to build the new offices and retain its existing Lillyhall highways depot.

This week the council confirmed those plans had been scrapped.

But bosses revealed that the authority was preparing to move all staff out of the town’s New Oxford Street offices, which houses children’s and adult services teams.

They are set to relocate to West Cumbria House at Lillyhall, alongside the HMRC call centre.

The move is set to happen in October at the earliest, once all paperwork has been completed.

The council plans to provide an alternative front-counter service in the town to help customers.

A spokesman said the move was designed to provide better quality office space and a better working environment for staff as well as reducing the amount the authority spends on rent and running costs for the offices.

It is expected to save the council around £100,000. No jobs will be lost under the move.

The spokesman said there were no current plans to relocate staff from other council offices.

He added: “There is no need at present for additional Cumbria County Council office space at the railway station site as there is enough capacity at Lillyhall.

“The council owns the piece of land adjacent to Workington Railway Station that had previously been considered as a potential site for building office accommodation for council staff.

“There are no current plans to build on it. However, it may be used in the future for council purposes, or to let as a commercial venture to generate revenue and to increase the amount of office accommodation in Workington town centre.

“The council welcomes any expressions of interest in this site from developers.”

The future of the New Oxford Street building, which is rented by the council, is not yet known.

The move comes as HMRC plans to close its operation at Lillyhall, which opened in 2009.

Around 350 jobs were created when the call centre opened but that had dropped to 200 by 2015.

In November 2015, HMRC revealed plans to close the centre as part of a nationwide restructure of its services.

Despite a campaign to save it and a stay of execution, it was later announced the centre would closed in autumn 2018.