A new use is being sought for a former bank building in Hereford which has been empty for nearly five years.

Number 21 Broad Street housed a Royal Bank of Scotland until the branch closed in August 2018, the building then being vacated the following March.

Plans submitted by nearby Hereford Cathedral, which owns the building, propose improving the building’s heat efficiency by replacing defective ground-floor windows and double glazing the upper two storeys.

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Remnants of the bank’s former sign and fixtures would be fixed, the old night safe would be removed, and a blocked-up door where the bank’s cash machine was previously housed would be re-opened, given access from the street to the upper floors.

There is some internal water damage from a leaky roof, now fixed, a statement with the planning application says.

“The building is suffering from a level of dilapidation that whilst currently posing no major issues, will continue to further devalue the property over time,” it adds.

The cathedral’s chapter, or governing body, is applying for a grant from Herefordshire Council to improve its shopfront, “which is why this planning application is being made”, it said.

No decision appears to have yet been made on whether it will ultimately be used as offices, a shop or a café.

The building is not listed, but several of its neighbours within the city conservation area are.

Comments on the planning application, numbered 233251, can be made until December 7.