Changes to an historic Dorchester town centre shop have been approved.

The Regency shop front at. 3 Cornhill will be preserved, although the commercial area behind it will be reduced in size.

The plans for the building also include creating a single bedroom flat to the rear of the commercial space with a courtyard behind that.

The building is said to be one of the key character properties in the county town, positively contributing to the Conservation Area.

It has a long history, once being the home and workplace of the town's tax collectors, who also worked as saddlers.

A plaque in the front of the building marks the connection to the father and son team.

More recently, the site was a shop selling bags and was previously the office of the Abbey National building society.

It is believed the property was originally a townhouse, the ground floor converted to commercial use in the late 18th, or early 19th century.

It has been on the national list as a building of special historic or architectural interest since May 1950 and sits within the Dorchester Conservation Area.

Three years ago, planning permission was given to convert the first and second floors to self-contained flats with access from a side door, which will not be affected by the recent planning request.

The new proposal is to have a smaller commercial space on the ground floor measuring 34 square metres with a studio apartment behind of 46 square metres - seven square metres larger than the minimum housing standard for a studio flat.

A planning agent, acting for the owners, said that the changes are largely internal and respect the character features of the historic building.