PROPOSALS to demolish a former factory and replace it with a building containing six flats are likely to be approved this week.

Derwentside district councillors are being recommended to approve plans for the residential development at the former Hamsteels Factory, in Front Street, Quebec.

The building would be three storeys with the third floor within the roof space.

Esh Parish Council had raised concerns about an increased volume of traffic around the entrance road and highways access on to the main road - but Durham County Council's highways development officer has raised no objections.

In a report to Thursday's development control committee, principal planning officer Fiona Clarke notes that the factory was formerly used as a school and has the architectural characteristics of such a building.

She adds, while it would have been preferable for the building to have been retained and converted, it was not of a suitable condition.