Plans for six homes on the site of a former nightclub in High West Street, Dorchester have been agreed.

The scheme has been amended since it was first proposed for nine homes in 2019 .

The gent's hairdressers' business at the front of the site will remained in place with access to the new buildings through the existing archway alongside it.

If the agreed plans go ahead it will include the demolition of the building to the rear of the site ,The Spice Centre, which remains open and continues to trade.

Sections of the site have previously been used as a dance studio and for exercise classes, the nightclub having had various names over the decades, including the Steering Wheel Club, Liberty's, the Buzz Inn and the Tavern Club.

The building owners want to demolish all of the existing buildings to the rear of the site, much of which they say is in poor condition with 'blown' brickwork and large cracks in the roof.

Dorset Council planning officers have been told that the state of the building is beyond economic repair. It was built in the mid-1920s as a community hall and used by the Women's Institute.

A Dorset Council report says that the changes to the scheme have produced a design which is "acceptable" for the site's prominent position in the town Conservation Area and is much improved on the previous application.

"The loss of the commercial premises is acceptable on balance, taking into account the position of the site, its condition, and the availability of other more suitable and desirable commercial properties in the vicinity. The ground floor shop on the secondary shopping frontage is retained," said the report.

The proposals include retaining the existing frontage with two flats on the first and second floors facing High West Street and four three-storey homes to the rear of the site with six parking spaces.

Dorchester Town Council raised no objection to the amended scheme and Dorchester Civic Society, which also objected originally, now say the changes have addressed their previous concerns and is acceptable.