Options for Cragg's Row windmill's future to be decided

The Grade II-listed structure has not functioned as a windmill since its sails were removed at the end of the 19th Century

The future of Preston's last windmill will be decided after planners gave the go-ahead for different visions to bring it back into use.

The 260-year-old landmark, on Cragg's Row in Plungington, has not functioned as a windmill since its sails were removed at the end of the 19th Century.

The Grade II-listed structure has since been an overflow prison, garage, piano workshop, World War Two-era cinema and a merchant's storage warehouse.

But it has been disused for decades.

Separate planning applications were submitted for bids to convert it into an Airbnb-style holiday lets or bedsits with Preston City Council giving the green light to both possibilities.

The changes needed for either revamp would be largely the same and mostly confined to internal modifications.

If the windmill became a place for holidaymakers 12 en-suite units would be created across six floors, documents show.

If it is converted into bedsits 10 individual rooms would be developed across seven floors, with two living and dining rooms and kitchens being added within an attached two-storey annexe building.

In either case four new windows and two rooflights would be installed within the mill, along with two small wind turbines on top of the structure, a 21st Century nod to its 18th Century origins.

Solar panels would also be introduced on the annexe.

Initial plans to stagger new staircases around the edge of the building were abandoned because of the difficulties posed by its circular and tapered style, with a central stairway being created instead.

A report by council planning officers noted while the internal alterations were considered "harmful to the character of the building," they were "adequately justified".

"The harm caused will be less than substantial in scale and, when weighed against the benefits of bringing the existing vacant building back into use, is considered acceptable," it added.