THE vacant former BHS store in Taunton town centre could soon have new occupants.

A planning application for retail space and a gym on separate floors of the North Street building has been lodged with Taunton Deane Borough Council.

The proposals, submitted by London-based applicant Wire Investments, may not have to go before the authority's planning committee as they are recommended to be decided by the development control manager at Deane House.

The store has lain empty since the end of July following the collapse of high street chain BHS, which boasted 164 stores with more than 11,000 staff across the country before its demise.

Administrators failed to find a buyer and billionaire Sir Philip Green, who sold the business to Dominic Chappell for £1 in March 2015, was branded "the unacceptable face of capitalism" during a Parliamentary inquiry into the company's pensions black hole.