A FORMER boiler shop will be turned into apartments after the plans were approved.

Bellway Homes was granted planning permission to install 40 flats in the former industrial building on Half Moon Lane, Gateshead, in 2017. However, they were never built and additional listed building consent needed has since lapsed.

Now, permission has been granted to create 58 apartments on the site, within the Ochre Yards scheme. To make the building liveable, redevelopment will include a new roof and an extension.

The applicant told Gateshead Council the scheme would “bring the derelict building back into active use in a positive, appropriate and effective manner”.

It added: “Crucially, the proposals provide the optimum viable use for a long-term vacant listed building where several previous attempts have not come to fruition.”

The council’s planning department approved the scheme, saying it would provide new homes.