The fate of the former Wilko store in Kingston has been decided, as the landmark building's last empty floors will be turned into a games arcade.

The basement and ground floor of the building, in Kingston town centre, have been left untouched as the rest is converted into flats.

But Kingston Council has now approved plans to turn this space in the four-storey building, on the junction of Clarence Street and Old London Road, into Urban Fun – an arcade run by entertainment company FunBox Limited.

The arcade will host activities including skittles, pool, bowling, snooker, golf, darts, shuffleboard, cricket, and virtual-reality games.

The venue will also serve food and sell booze from 12pm to midnight on Sundays to Thursdays, and until 1am on Fridays and Saturdays. It will shut half-an-hour later on each day.

Funbox Limited submitted a planning application for the conversion in November last year and left a printed copy of the application in the window of the site, causing locals to express their concerns for the idea on social media.

The former Wilko shut in August 2023 when the high street chain went bust, which saw the closure of all 400 Wilko stores across the UK.

This scuppered plans, rubber stamped by the council in 2022, to reduce the Wilko to the basement and ground floor of the building and convert its upper floors into housing.

The council granting permission for Urban Fun to instead open in this space has now decided the fate of the building, which had been hanging in the balance.

The separate housing scheme, from Gemona Properties Ltd, involves extending the building by three storeys to provide 56 new flats overall once completed – including four affordable homes.

PRYZM Kingston, next to the former Wilko, could also see major changes coming in the near future, as owner NEOS Hospitality wants to carry out a £3million makeover to attract more late-night revellers.

The company has submitted plans to divide the venue into a 'party bar' on the ground floor, known as Bonnie Rogues, and a new nightclub on the first and second floors, called Circuit.

The council will decide on the plans in due course.