A LARGE town centre shop that has been empty for three years has been sold with a new use also confirmed.

The former Original Factory Shop has stood empty in a prominent location on Chepstow’s High Street since the discount chain closed its stores in August 2023.

It came to Chepstow as part of a wave of store openings on sites previously occupied by Woolworths before the much-loved chain closed its UK stores at the end of 2009.

Chepstow-based property consultant Julian Bladen confirmed the building has been sold with its first floor to be converted to nine, affordable flats and the ground floor remaining as a commercial units, in line with planning permission approved in July this year.

Work on converting the first floor to flats has already started, said Mr Bladen while the final use of the first floor has yet to be decided and it could be divided into two retail units.

In February this year Monmouthshire County Council agreed to provide £100,000 from Welsh and UK Government regeneration funds towards a revamp of the building.

At that time Councillor Paul Griffiths, the council’s Labour deputy leader, said: “It is a very large building that could well have blighted the town.

“Private finance and finance from a registered social landlord will be complemented by the support from this fund.”

Planning permission was granted in July to Michael Ewer of Davy Court Castle, Mound Way in Rugby, with the permission subject to a Section 106 legal agreement.

That requires no less than nine affordable flats are provided and details of how the flats will either be transferred to a registered social landlord, or otherwise managed, and how they are affordable to the first and subsequent occupiers have to be provided.

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In recent weeks a homeless man has been seen sleeping in the doorway of the vacant shop but it’s understood he is no longer sleeping there.