The historic former Royal Brierley Crystal factory is to be demolished within weeks as plans to build a £6million base for Dudley and Sandwell’s archives gather pace.

The site, next to the Black Country Living Museum on Tipton Road, is expected to be cleared by the end of next month.

Bosses want to build a new archive base in its place which will have features including a local history library, a conservation studio, archive storage and education facilities such as a lecture theatre and conference rooms.

It will also have solar panels installed on the roof to generate electricity.

Plans for the development were submitted earlier this month and it is hoped work can start on the build before the end of this year.

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