A FORMER council office in Malvern town centre, and a newsagent near Great Malvern Station, will be sold off.

Rockcliffe in Church Street and The Willows newsagent in Avenue Road are to be put up for sale, the district council executive committee decided on Tuesday.

Coun Jon Rayner, the portfolio holder for resources, said: "There is every likelihood that the Willows will be sold to the sitting tenant. There are tenants in Rockcliffe but they are on short leases."

He said moves to sell the buildings will be put in train as soon as possible. A building in Tenbury Wells, called Temeside House, is also included in the sell-off programme.

"Worcester City Council now handles our estate management and we will be instructing them to draw up a programme for disposal as soon as possible," said Coun Rayner.

At the same meeting, councillors agreed a plan should be drawn up to relocate council staff from Highlea, another office building in Church Street, to other sites.

The property working party should deliver its final report, with its recommendations on the future of the council's buildings, in October.

The working party was formed after a survey last year showed the council's office buildings were in a poor state of repair and essential work would cost more than £5 million.