Victorian factory to make way for block of flats

The two-storey building will be replaced with a block of nine flats

Plans to demolish a derelict Victorian factory and build a three-storey block of flats in its place have been approved.

The Laban Tansey needle manufacturing company occupied the two-storey building in Druid Street in Hinckley, Leicestershire, in the 1890s.

Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council has given developer Andrew Reid permission to knock down the building and construct nine flats, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

Planning officers said the building was of "historic interest" but its "poor state of repair" meant the "impact of its loss is outweighed by the benefits".

The building, which is one of a cluster old factories, sits in the Druid Street Conservation area, the LDRS said.

The council received one formal objection about the scheme, which said the building was "one of the first and earliest factory premises to have been built and to survive to the present day".

The application was a resubmission of plans by the developer which had sought permission for 12 flats instead of nine.

It was withdrawn before a decision could be made, according to the LDRS.

An application to demolish the site for apartments and office space was previously approved by the council in 2008, but it lapsed six years later.

Planning documents say the new building will be "in keeping with the industrial factory aesthetic".