A FORMER court room within Greenock's historic Municipal Buildings has been cleared for a bright new future following a £500,000 restoration project.

Tele readers have been given an exclusive first look at the ornate space within the Inverclyde Council headquarters, which has been completely refurbished to preserve it for future generations.

The room was in use for nearly 120 years as the district court and is part of the Grade A-listed Municipal Buildings, which were completed in 1889.

It was one of the last in operation in the Sheriffdom of North Strathclyde until its closure on December 14, 2009.

During the subsequent years, the court room, adjoining cells and public gallery fell into a serious state of disrepair, prompting the council to sanction a refurbishment project to bail them out of trouble.

Over the last 12 months, contractors, including Greenock firm WH Kirkwood, have carried out the careful restoration to return the magnificent space back to its former glory.

Councillor Michael McCormick, convener of Inverclyde Council's environment and regeneration committee, took to the stand to see the end result.

Mr McCormick said: "I think everyone will agree that the district court rooms look magnificent.

"The restoration work is top quality and the rooms look just as they would have done when they were originally completed 130 years ago."

The long list of work carried out included repairs to the floors, walls, ceilings and windows, re-polishing of the wood panelling, improved lighting, replacement radiators and pipes and a glass safety balustrade in the public gallery.

New carpets were also laid and the decorative Victorian stained-glass pane, featuring the town motto, 'God Speed Greenock', was fully restored.

As well as witnessing many a trial during its colourful working life, the district court has also played starring roles on screen, including in BBC soap River City and ITV mini-series 'In Plain Sight', which featured Greenock's own Martin Compston in the lead role as serial killer Peter Manuel.

Now it looks set to be brought back into public use as a visitor attraction, welcoming some of the thousands of cruise ship passengers who stop off at Ocean Terminal each year.

Cllr McCormick said: "Inverclyde plays host to thousands of tourists every year and I'm sure they will become a significant attraction in their own right."

Local authority officials are also still exploring the idea of making it a wedding venue, which was the original plan.

The district court was supposed to the replacement marriage suite following the closure of the West Stewart Street registry office in October 2017, but Port Glasgow Town Hall was picked instead as it is more easily accessible.