The Leigh Fisherman’s Co-operative which was gutted by fire in September is set to be demolished.

An application to remove the charred building’s remains in High Street, Old Leigh has been submitted.

The proposal reveals the extensive damage inside the former fishmongers which was destroyed in an arson attack.

Surveyors discovered all the walls and ceiling lined with galvanised steel sheets that had peeled off to reveal the shuttered walls and floor structure above. In one room the ceiling had collapsed to the floor below.

Scaffolding will be constructed around the building to allow it to be painstakingly dismantled and any salvageable items from inside the structure will be preserved.

The weather-boarded building will be removed entirely and surrounding paving set aside. The building is not Listed. It is not in the Conservation Area but it is within an Article 4 Direction area which restricts the scope of permitted development rights.

The two-storey building was divided into a fish market on the ground floor and commercial offices on the first floor reached by an external tower with a timber ladder staircase.

There has been a building on the site since about 1873.

The application includes a statement from Peter Wexham, Lib Dem councillor for Leigh ward who has previously indicated a replacement could be built on the site by the summer.

He said: “This old timber framed building has been part of local history going back to the early 1900s where it was originally part of another building, as in those days they just built and changed things to suit whatever the need was.

“In the 1950s and 1960s one of the Walker Brothers used it for sail making. It was always known as Turnage’s sail loft where the family had it for many years, making and repairing sails for the Bawleys & Barges that were working in and out of Leigh.”