A LASTING tribute to two jockeys killed in a flats fire in Norton has moved a step closer.

Racing Welfare has announced it had bought a property in Malton which will provide “safe, supported accommodation” for young stable staff in the North Yorkshire racing centre.

The property at 4 Old Maltongate was formerly a solicitor’s office and was granted residential change of use by Ryedale District Council earlier this year.

Conversion works on the Victorian building are due to start next spring and the £500,000 redevelopment will see the ground floor become the charity’s welfare office, while the upper floors will be converted into four bedrooms, a communal lounge, kitchen and bathrooms.

The property will provide young people entering the racing industry in Malton with comfortable homes with added personal support available from the local Racing Welfare’s team.

Part of the funds for development came following the deaths of Jamie Kyne and Jan Wilson in a blaze at Buckrose Court in September 2009.

The pair, both talented apprentices, lost their lives after Peter Brown set fire to rubbish in a stairwell after being refused entry to a private party at the flat.

Brown, then 37, and at the time also a resident of Buckrose Court, was convicted of manslaughter and jailed indefinitely the following year.

Simon Clarke, chairman of Racing Homes, which is Racing Welfare’s housing association, said: “Our ongoing consultation with Malton’s racing community will ensure that our latest development caters for the needs of the town’s racing people.

“Our potential plans for the development of the basement into a community and IT suite will enlist the help of the Wilson and Kyne families to ensure we develop a facility that can act as a lasting tribute to two young lives so tragically lost.

“The new homes provided at 4 Old Maltongate will give peace of mind to the young residents and their families as they take their first steps into the challenging world of racing, while the development of the basement will benefit the Malton racing community as a whole.”

It is hoped the building will open late next year.