THE future for Derby's former Hippodrome theatre looks brighter after the city council and the site's owner agreed to work together to bring the Grade II listed building back into some sort of use.

The city council has confirmed it has issued an enforcement notice which would force the owner of the Green Lane building, Christopher Anthony, to repair the building.

But the authority says it will not pursue the action if Mr Anthony can come up with a way to retain the main sections of the Hippodrome and bring it back into use.

The building, which was used as a bingo hall after closing as a theatre, was severely damaged in March when work by Mr Anthony's building contractors resulted in part of the roof collapsing and sections of wall being pulled down.

The council got a High Court injunction to stop Mr Anthony carrying out any further work without its approval and said it was considering an enforcement notice to make him repair the damage.

But Mr Anthony made it clear he would appeal against such action, which would delay work for at least a year.

To avoid the building decaying further, the council has agreed it will put a hold on the enforcement notice if Mr Anthony and his representatives can come up with a suitable use for the building.

A spokeswoman for the authority said: "The council had a constructive meeting with the owner, during which he put forward some proposals about the building's future use.

"The council has agreed that these proposals should be progressed with a view to the owner submitting a listed building consent application.

"Provided that the owner complies with the agreed tight timescales for doing this, the council will extend the date for the enforcement notice to come into effect."

A spokesman for Mr Anthony said the plans would mean trying to retain as much of the remaining structure as possible – including the wall facing Macklin Street and the Green Lane facade.

He said the timescale in which they have to achieve this had not yet been formally set.

"We have had constructive talks with the council and we are fast working and looking at Derby's local plan to address how to take the whole site forward," he said.

He added he was not yet able to say what the building could be used for.

Residents living nearby had feared the Hippodrome would be knocked down and flats built on the site. But Mr Anthony's spokesman said turning the building into apartments was "highly unlikely" in the current financial climate.