AN empty town centre building in Middlesbrough could soon undergo a multi-million pound transformation.

A development company is hoping to buy the ten-storey Teesside House, which has been empty for six years.

Cleveland Police raided the building in May and removed squatters.

Owners The Waterbridge Group defied council orders to board up two floors of the building with metal cladding to keep squatters and drug users out.

Waterbridge chose not to wait for a planning application to be processed by the council, concerned that if rapid action was not taken a youngster could die in the building.

A company spokesman said at the time: "I don't think they realise, if we don't put something in place, it may be a case of pulling a body out of there."

Workers employed to make the tower block safe refused to clear out the interior because the floors were littered with hypodermic needles and squatters' bedding.

But Teesside House could soon become a desirable residence.

The east Middlesbrough-based Watch Group is in discussions with Watergate over plans for a £4m flats conversion.

The scheme would include building an extension to the property, increasing its overall size by 40 per cent.

Watch Group managing director Mike Pearson said: "We are hoping to conclude a purchase in the very near future.

"We have drawings, plans, and artist's impressions. We are hoping to create 300 very up-market student accommodation units. It's a completely new phase.''

Previous ideas for the building have included opening a bar, bistro, or restaurant on the lower floors, encouraged by Middlesbrough Council plans for a piazza-style civic square and art gallery just yards from the site.