Hundreds of workers will move into a new council base if a multimillion-pound property deal goes through.

West Sussex County Council is on the brink of purchasing the Parkside building in Horsham town centre to create a new office in the north of the area.

The office is currently used by the Royal & Sun Alliance insurance company which also occupies nearby Linden House and St Mark's Court, in Chart Way.

The company employs nearly 900 people in Horsham but has been slowly reducing numbers at its offices across the country in recent years.

The deal remains subject to contract but Steve Waight, West Sussex's cabinet member for finance and resources, said the purchase of Parkside would be "exciting news" for the town centre.

He said: "It will bring service support closer to communities throughout this area of the county, and also bring more people into the town centre, which must be excellent news for the local economy."

Parkside has just under 100,000 sq ft of office space - roughly the same as two football pitches. It includes meeting rooms and parking for 300 cars.

Coun Waight said: "This must make sound economic and business sense particularly as we are purchasing Parkside by disposing of existing outdated assets."

A county council spokesman said he could not confirm exactly how much the purchase would cost, but said it would be a multimillion-pound deal.

He said hundreds of workers would see their jobs switch to Horsham town centre if the deal goes through as planned.

The council would not confirm however which services would be moved into Parkside if the move goes ahead.

Parkside is a short walk away from the town's bus and railway stations which the council hopes will encourage employees to use public transport.

The office block was built in 1994 and needs very little internal refurbishment to meet the council's needs.

Council leader Henry Smith said: "This proposal is still being worked up in detail and we will be consulting staff.

"But it is good news for local county council services and particularly for Horsham."

The news was welcomed by Liz Kitchen, the leader of Horsham District Council.

She said: "I never doubted that the building would let fairly quickly. It's in a superb position in a wonderful town.

"I understand that the county council is consolidating some of its existing buildings, and we look forward to welcoming them to Horsham.

"I am sure that the local economy will also benefit from this move with increased footfall in the town centre."

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