£4m plans for Todmorden Town Hall in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, have been approved by the borough council's project board.

The proposals, drawn up by London-based architects Camillin Denny, include extensive refurbishment of the exterior and interior of the building and turning the basement into a café and heritage exhibition space.

They also include shops and meeting rooms, new toilets, a new bar and lifts below an extension to the ballroom balcony.

Calderdale Council's cabinet member for safer and stronger communities, Ian Cooper, said: "The plans will mean that Todmorden at last has a town hall that can be used and enjoyed by everyone in both the local community and from elsewhere.

"It is recognised that this building is Todmorden's architectural gem and it is entirely right that we give it a chance of being enjoyed long into the future.

The project board is now looking at funding options, including the possibility of a Heritage Lottery Fund bid in September. Work would then start in 2012.