Plans have been submitted to give an historic factory building a new lease of life.

Leicester City Council wants to transform the empty Rutland Street building – in the heart of the city's Cultural Quarter – into workspaces for creative businesses such as clothes designers and pottery manufacturers.

The £1.1million project, which will be considered by the council's planning department, will see the building refurbished and converted into 11 units.

Helen Howe, 29, owner of Freedom Fashions, in the LCB Depot, is one of two tenants planning to occupy some of the new units once they are completed early next year

She said: "The Rutland Street creative work space will provide the perfect base for us to expand our operations to include our own sample unit and to grow our team.''

The Grade II-listed factory, which has been empty since 2002, was built by hosier J.Brown in 1860.

According to English Heritage, it is the oldest hosiery factory of any size to survive in the East Midlands.

The money for the refurbishment will come from the European Regional Development Fund and the council's Working Neighbourhoods Fund.