Look inside Castleford's abandoned Poundstretcher store ahead of its demolition later this year

Poundstretcher’s Castleford branch opened in the mid-2000s and was located on Carlton Street, on the junction with Station Street, occupying a large, 32,649 sq ft building which itself dates back to 1974.

Poundstretcher (previously styled as £-stretcher) is a chain of discount stores that operated across the United Kingdom that sold a variety of low-priced items including home basics, garden and kitchen items and furniture.

In 2018, this branch was featured on the Channel 4 documentary Saving Poundstretcher; in which senior management tried to turn the store into a prototype for other shops.

In the documentary, it was stated the Castleford branch was taking £12,000 a week; only half of what it needed to take to be profitable.

Ultimately, it closed its doors for good in early 2019.

The building is now completely stripped and devoid of almost all Poundstretcher features, besides some old leaflets and baskets.

Last year, a proposal was put in place to convert the former store into a training centre.

Wakefield-based charity Gasped wanted to build training and educational facilities on the ground and first floors and temporary accommodation for 19 vulnerable people on the second floor – however the plans never followed through.

Now, Yvette Cooper, Labour MP for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford and Shadow Home Secretary, has announced that demolition plans have been confirmed for the old shop, with plans to turn it into a new skills centre.

Posting to social media, the Shadow Home Secretary said: “The old Poundstretcher building is a complete eyesore. Alongside local councillors, I’ve been calling for Wakefield Council to find a way to demolish it and replace it with proper new facilities for our town centre.

"WMDC has now confirmed they will demolish it later this year and make it the site for a new Skills Hub to include training, workspace & courses run by Cas Tigers Foundation. That’s really welcome news as we’ve been pushing for this for some time.”