An auction house is planning to move to currently vacant premises on a Suffolk industrial estate.

Lockdale Coins has applied to East Suffolk Council for permission to convert a unit at Max House in Sandy Lane, Martlesham into the auction rooms.

The 0.9 hectare site used to be the home for publisher ACC Art Books, which is a publisher of books on the arts and visual culture.

READ MORE: Martlesham news

However, the publisher moved to new premises at Riverside House in Dock Lane, Melton in December, leaving the industrial unit vacant.

Currently, Lockdale Coins is based in nearby Barrack Square in Martlesham and specialises in the auction of coins, militaria, jewellery and collectables.

The firm was started in 1996 as a specialist coin dealers with a shop in Ipswich before opening a second shop in Lowestoft in 1998 and a third shop in Cambridge in 2003.

In 2011 and due to the increasing success of the auctions, Lockdales moved to its current site.

In 2020, Lockdales, which is in its 25th year, held a record number of auctions with total sales of £4.4 million from 26,800 lots auctioned.

A layout of the proposed new auction house shows facilities for offices, workshops, a reception, kitchenette, store room and toilets.

On the council's website, Lockdales said the building the auctioneers were planning to move to 'already exists' and there were no plans to develop.

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