PLANS to demolish a derelict town centre building that has become a magnet for anti-social behaviour in Poole have taken a step forward.

There is still no date for when St John’s House in Serpentine Road will be demolished.

But earlier this month a prior notification of intention to demolish the building was submitted to Borough of Poole.

According to a council spokesman a ‘prior notification’ application allows the local authority to obtain more detail about how the applicant proposes to carry out the demolition and how it proposes to restore the site afterwards.

St John’s House has been vacant for more than two years – ever since the borough’s transportation services moved back to the Civic Centre.

Last year an application to build a part 12-storey/part 14-storey block with 203 residential apartments at the site was agreed by BOP’s planning committee.

Developers want to demolish St John’s House and the former HMRC offices nearby, to make way for the complex. This will offer 58 studio apartments, 92 one-bedroomed flats, 49 two-bedroomed and four three-bedroomed homes.

Plans also include a residents’ fitness suite, a 90-space car park, communal roof garden and bicycle storage.