Ipswich council officials are today starting to build a comprehensive case for takeover of the former Grimwades store on the Cornhill.

The borough's executive unanimously backed a proposal to seek a Compulsory Purchase Order for the building on Tuesday evening with little discussion.

The council believes the building's Dubai-based owners are demanding an unrealistically- high rent or property price for the building.

And they are also concerned that their insistence that its operators should never be permitted to sell alcohol puts off potential occupiers who might want to turn it into a restaurant or bar.

The council has tried to buy the building - considered to be one of the most prominent in the town centre - before but the price quoted was unrealistic.

Council leader Neil MacDonald told his fellow executive members that the council's efforts to buy the building had all been unsuccessful.

He said: "It (the purchase) would help to kick-start regeneration of that part of the town because it occupies a prime location at the junction of the 'Golden Mile' and it needs substantial investment to bring the property back into use."

The council hopes that the case it makes for the CPO will be so strong that the owner of the building will decide there is no point in fighting it in court.

That is what happened when it applied for a CPO to buy buildings at the Ipswich Waterfront nearly a decade ago.

However it is understood that there has been no meaningful contact with the owner of the building since it was first revealed that the borough would be seeking a CPO.

And if the landlord does decide to challenge the application in court it could take at least a year before anything is resolved and work to try to bring it back into use could start.

Mr MacDonald added: "I'm pleased that Exec agreed unanimously to authorise officers to progress with the CPO process for the Grimwades building.

"Officers will now put together the detailed case for submission over the summer. In the meantime we will continue to engage with the owner.

"Bringing this building back into use is key to the success of our town centre."