A regional daily has moved into new town centre offices above a former football merchandise shop.

The Lancashire Telegraph is in the process of leaving its current Newspaper House base, on Railway Road, Blackburn, for a new home just a stone’s throw away on Church Street.

Reporting staff moved to the new office on Friday, while the main reception will remain at Newspaper House until this Friday.

The Church Street headquarters sit across two floors above the former ‘One Rovers’ Shop, which sold Blackburn Rovers Football Club merchandise until its closure in August last year.

The Telegraph’s new office is above the former Blackburn Rovers shop

The site was previously a Tourist Information Centre.

The Newsquest-owned Telegraph has been based at Newspaper House, next to Blackburn’s main railway station, since 1982.

Church Street is the newspaper’s third home in its 130 year history.

Group editor Ian Savage said: “We are now starting the latest, exciting, chapter in the history of the Lancashire Telegraph, remaining firmly at the heart of the community and the readers we serve.

“In our 130-year history we have only ever been produced from two sites, both on Railway Road in Blackburn, and now we are moving just a few hundred yards across the rapidly-evolving town to Church Street.

“This means our headquarters remains close to our readers and advertisers who are the key to our business and its ongoing success online and in print.”

The four-storey building in Railway Road has been sold to become a new office and business hub.

Former Blackburn MP and Foreign Minister Jack Straw said: “The Telegraph has always been a daily miracle at the heart of East Lancashire life. I am delighted it is staying in the centre of Blackburn and its circulation area.”