THE owner of a vacant town centre building is facing calls to restore it to its former glory.

The former TocH building on North Street, which was once a 'thriving venue' run by the Christian movement of the same name, has now been empty for around two decades.

The building is owned by Darren Jarman, who pled guilty last year to eight breaches of the Housing Act and was handed down a bill of almost £35,000.

Mr Jarman, formerly of Wellington, owns a number of properties in the area, including the run-down building at 27 North Street.

The building has visibly deteriorated in plain view of the town over the years. An image of the building from 2016, which while still empty, showed that it appeared to be in good condition from the outside.

But today, a number of windows are boarded up, scaffold covers the entire frontage and extends onto the pavement and corrugated metal hoarding surrounds the ground floor.

It is understood local authorities have previously intervened to force work to be carried out when the building posed a hazard, as it did in 2017 when tiles began to fall from the roof.

But it appears Somerset Council is powerless to go further in its interventions - and cannot force the owner to renovate the exterior of the property unless it poses a clear risk.

Somerset Councillor Andrew Govier said: "I think the council are limited in what they can do. It is like the former E. J Tear newsagents, the council intervened to make it safe but can't do much more.

"The council do keep pushing the owner but he does the bare minimum to keep them off his back. I would like to see it brought back into use. It was a popular venue and it is a shame it has deteriorated."

Wellington Town Councillor Zoe Barr also weighed in on the issue, branding the empty building as a 'blot' on the town. Commenting she said:

"This building is one of several serious blots on the character of the town centre. It is on the main route into town for people travelling from Milverton and the Brendon Hills direction.

"As with other issues like this I cannot help but think that if it was in Taunton, then Somerset Council would have been pulling out all the stops to resolve the issue. But because it is Wellington they do not seem to care as much. It is extremely frustrating for us as local councillors."

Darren Jarman could not be reached for comment.