Part of a former weekly newspaper office has been demolished ahead of its conversion into a centre for blind people.

Work began on the former Morecambe Visitor headquarters on 4 January, while more details of its £1.2m redevelopment have been revealed.

New owners Galloway’s Society for the Blind plan to turn the Victoria Street site into a “centre of excellence” for the visually impaired.

The facility on will include an ‘Ideas Store’ displaying state-of-the-art resources to help visually impaired people in every day living, including a mock-up kitchen and living rooms.

The former Visitor office prior to demolition

It will also include a social enterprise café offering training and work placement opportunities for blind and partially sighted people.

A recording studio, offices and meeting spaces for let, and rooms for social and creative activities, are also set to form part of the centre.

Work is set to be completed on the development later this year.

The Visitor and its sister title the Lancaster Guardian moved into a new headquarters on an industrial estate in February 2014, having previously been based on Victoria Street for 135 years.

The site post-demolition