IN PICTURES: The eerie and deserted department store that was once home to Beales in Peterborough

There is an eerie feel to the huge expanse of space that was once home to the Beales department store in Peterborough.

A few humorously placed mannequins, piles of unwanted shop furniture and fittings, holes in walls and graffiti are dotted across the floor in a mid Victorian Westgate House, in Westgate, that just a few months ago provided jobs for about 30 staff.

That was until bosses concluded hefty business rates made the store unviable and it was closed in January this year – less than two years after it had been reopened after the brand and web address of the original Beales retailer had been revived following a collapse into administration.

Now the store is being marketed by property specialists Savills.

But the prospects of another large retailer coming forward are not good.

And the building is part of a redevelopment planning application submitted by its owner Panther (VAT) Properties to Peterborough City Council.

The proposal is for a mixed use scheme providing more desirable commercial spaces at ground floor, more fitting with the modern day market, with residential in the upper parts.

Under the proposals the more modern section of the building is being completely re-built but the older conservation style aspects being retained and refurbished.

The redevelopment plans feature the creation of 125 apartments which will be a mix of one, two and three-bedroom apartments.