Vintage store to be converted into eight-bed house

The building, at 2 Tresham Street in Kettering, was known as Much Loved unique interiors and vintage home furnishing

An empty former vintage store is due to be converted into an eight-bedroom house of multiple occupation (HMO) despite opposition.

North Northampton Council's planning committee gave permission for the building in Tresham Street, Kettering, to house up to eight people.

Residents had complained there was no on-site parking and that it could contribute to anti-social behaviour.

The local highways department did not object.

Lux Williams, the deputy chairwoman of planning at Kettering Town Council, said there were already three large HMOs in the area "all of whom are competing for limited parking spaces".

Paul Brooke, a Reform UK member at North Northamptonshire Council, said: "I have some family and friends that live in that area and the whole of that area is a mare for parking.

"Literally, if you leave your space you ain't going to come back to it."

But the highways department said the plans decreased the need for car parking by three spaces, compared with what was required for the retail store, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The council report noted the complaints as "material considerations" but said: "These issues are not considered sufficient to recommend refusal."

The building had previously been a warehouse, office, vet surgery and nursery.