Councillors in Newcastle-under-Lyme say work on a desperately needed new multi-storey car park for the town could begin in May.

A planning application is due to be submitted later this month for the proposed 'Castle Car Park' which has been named in a nod to the borough's heritage.

It is intended as a replacement for the Midway Car Park, and will be built as part of a scheme being planned for the Ryecroft development which councillors say will rejuvenate the area.

The council secured £11m from the Future High Street Fund for the redevelopment of the Ryecroft site, including the development of the new multi-storey car park.

The proposed car park will deliver 450 spaces along with 39 electric vehicle charging spaces and 11 disability spaces.

Access to and from the new car park will be via Liverpool Road, and it's expected it will be open for use by March 2024.

Council leader Simon Tagg said: "This council could spend millions of pounds over the next ten or fifteen years on continuing to keep the Midway in operation when it's really 20 years already past it sell-by date.

"While I've been on this council – and it's my 20th year now – the council must've spent many millions just to keep the Midway open.

"If you drive around the Midway it's not a pretty site – it gets flooded in the winter, you can't have pay on exit because of the design, the stairs are awful and the actual look of it is dark and dingy."

He added: "[Castle Car Park] will be a new car park for the town, which will consolidate parking space into the Ryecroft, which we see as a growth area for the town."

Cllr Stephen Sweeney said the council risked spending more money on the old car park than they were building in, as its concrete structure begins to perish.

He added it was the first building block for the council's ambitions for that part of the town.

He said: "I can see Merrial Street, five years down the line, being the place if you want to have a business. It's got a very, very good future."

Cllr Gill Heesom said: "I think it's been a long time coming. The car park we've got at the moment isn't fit for purpose.

"The design actually incorporates the larger vehicles people are using nowadays, so it'll be a huge improvement and probably very well used when it's here."

The new car park has been designed to be net-zero in its carbon footprint, both during its build phase and in its operation, in common with all the other buildings on the Ryecroft site.