WINCHESTER civic chiefs are working on a deal to buy land as part of the Station Approach scheme.

The city council is consolidating its land holdings in the railway station area and is in discussions with the county council.

The city council wants to buy the Registry Office on Station Hill and the county-owned car park.

A city council spokesman said: “We have yet to agree a price so, for now, negotiations are commercially confidential.”

The council’s capital programme from 2014-15 includes £2.6 million earmarked for the ‘Carfax.’ The spokesman said the negotiations do not include the County Record Office on Sussex Street.

The city council is in early stages of a huge ‘Station Approach’ scheme which could see a redevelopment of a large swathe of the city, stretching from Gladstone Street to the Cattle Market car park off Worthy Lane/Andover Road.

Suggested new uses from council officers, councillors and the public have included major offices, homes and cultural activities such as a theatre.