PEACOCKS could be set to close the doors on its Eign Gate store in Hereford, a planning application has revealed.

The application, submitted earlier this month by London-based Lola Property Investments, proposes a change of use of the ground floor and lower ground floor of 37 Eign Gate from retail to an educational facility.

A second planning application covering the upper floors of the building proposes a change of use from disused retail space to en suite student bedrooms, communal living areas and associated facilities.

Formerly home to Hereford's Woolworths store, which closed in 2009, the building has been occupied by Peacocks for several years.

A design and access statement for the application said: "The first application is for the proposal to convert underused retail storage to student accommodation.

"The second application is for the proposal for change of use from retail to a non-residential education facility.

"The building has not been well looked after in recent years and requires substantial renovation along with some internal changes to make it usable space for future uses."

The plans include a re-ordering of the existing floors with proposed extensions to the third floor of the building to be constructed in a bronze coloured material.

The building's 'monolithic' West Street facade will be adapted to more closely resemble the Eign Gate frontage.

If successful, the proposed student accommodation at the former Woolworths store will house 71 students from Hereford's new university, NMiTE, which plans to construct a campus in Hereford city centre with linked laboratories and workshops on the Enterprise Zone at Rotherwas.

The first phase of the project will see over a thousand students taking courses by 2021, with students being principally housed in new accommodation across the city.

Peacocks have been contacted for comment.