BAKERS, Reeve, have been given permission to open in the disused former Halifax Building Society in South Street, Dorchester.

The building has been empty since November 2022.

A planning agent for Reeve the Baker, which started in the Salisbury area, and how has 13 shops in Dorset, Wiltshire and Hampshire, says it will replace the existing frontage with a wooden, traditional designed, shopfront which it claims will be an improvement and more in character with the rest of the street.

The only public comment on the planning application, came from Dorchester resident Jon Roberts, said that while the arrival of the business is welcome, he said it was a shame that the bakery is planning to remove what he believes is "a good quality shopfront from the 1960s/ 1970s – a rare survivor from that time."

Dorchester Town Council's planning committee backed the changes, the planning approval being decided by Dorset Council planning officers.