[2] These streets had been part of the Weaver's Triangle area of Burnley and the buildings, which were in a poor state, were demolished in the 1930s.

[3] The new building was designed by the Property Services Agency in the Modernist style, built in buff brick at a cost of £1.5 million,[4] and was opened in 1981.

[5][6] The design involved an asymmetric main frontage in two sections facing onto Whittam Street.

The left-hand section of four bays was well set back from the road: the right-hand bay, which was slightly projected forward, featured a four-door opening, surmounted by a Royal coat of arms, with a small casement window on the first floor.

[8] Notable cases have included the trial and acquittal of the actor, Peter Adamson, in July 1983, on charges of indecent assault,[9][10] and the trial and conviction of another actor, Jody Latham, in December 2012, for growing cannabis in his garden: Latham was given a suspended prison sentence.