A council is preparing a "last resort" compulsory purchase of an empty department store.

Medway councillors agreed to pursue a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) to buy the former Debenhams in Chatham should negotiations grind to a halt.

The council wants to use part of a £9.5 million government grant to establish a residential scheme in the building which has been empty since January 2020.

During a meeting of the council's cabinet this afternoon, councillors agreed to continue with negotiations with the building's owners, but also prepare a CPO and commission a partner to develop the homes scheme.

A report into the proposals details how the council carried out a valuation of the property in July last year and offered the building's owners a fee which has not been publicly disclosed.

They were given a deadline to reply at the end of November and, according to the report, the council didn't hear back.

The CPO would have to be submitted to the secretary of state and the authority may have to make representations at a public inquiry should objections be made.

Cllr Adrian Gulvin (Con), portfolio holder for resources, explained how the council had explored using a CPO when purchasing Mountbatten House, but this was not something it had to resort to.

Last year, the council spent £1.975 million acquiring the 12-storey former offices which sits on top of the Pentagon Shopping Centre.

He added: "The loss of Debenhams as a retail outlet in the centre of Chatham was a blow, but it wasn't an unexpected one.

"The nature of retail has been changing now over many years.

"If you look at many other large towns and cities up and down the country, it's not just Debenhams that have gone but many other department stores and we as a council can't change that as a fact but what we can do is grab the opportunity that this gives us for another significant regeneration project within the centre of Chatham and I fully support that we should grasp that opportunity."