Liverpool City Council has announced it is selling its former administrative headquarters in a bid to find £90m in savings over the next three years.

The building has space for 1,000 staff but only 640 employees are accommodated there due to a significant reduction in the council’s head count in recent years.

Opened in 1866, the building is advertised as ‘a rare opportunity to acquire a landmark Grade II listed city centre office’.

The decision to sell the building is part of an accommodation strategy which aims to deliver significant savings and generate funding which can be reinvested in reducing the costs of the city’s major infrastructure projects programme.

Cllr Malcolm Kennedy, cabinet member for regeneration, said: ‘Municipal Building has been a magnificent home for Liverpool City Council since the 1860s, and this is the end of an era.

‘It was built at a time when, unlike now, the city council ran most public services in the city, but the costly nature of running and maintaining it means we no longer have the staff numbers to justify retaining it.

‘We are determined to find a long-term sustainable use for the building which will also create new jobs and make a contribution to the local economy.’

Workers are being moved to other existing sites across the city.