PLANS for an additional five apartments at a proposed town centre housing development have been given the go ahead.

This means the former tax office, known as Stone Cross House, will have 61 flats when work is completed.

Wigan-based property development firm, Heaton Group Developments, is behind the plans for the vacant building in Churchgate where work is already underway.

The plans feature a mixture of studio, one and two-bedroom apartments.

The building has been vacant since Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HRMC) closed the local tax office and moved most employees to regional centres.

In 2008, campaigners successfully managed to save the office in a previous rounds of closures.

But its fate was sealed in 2015 when it was announced as one of 24 branches being shut across the North West over a five-year period.

The Heaton Group sent a notification for prior approval to the council back in March indicating its desire to use the office space as residential homes.

The plans for an additional five apartments as part of the development were submitted in July.

Town hall planners approved the application on Friday.

This new development adds to the two thousand homes already planned in the town centre as part of Bolton's £1.2bn regeneration masterplan.

The site is located a stone's throw away from the Church Wharf intervention area where 320 homes are set to be created alongside a new park, hotel and a new bridge.