A former estate agent business in Dorchester's High West Street is to be converted into a home.

The upper floors of the building, No 54, previously used for offices, have already been converted for residential use.

Dorset Council has now approved the ground floor conversion. The decision was backed by Dorchester town council's planning committee which said it would welcome conversions, rather than see properties remain empty.

The town councillors had asked for the commercial windows to be removed, where possible, after hearing from town centre resident Julian Hancock.

He said that the appearance of disused shops in the conservation area with their large windows still intact was not a good image for the town's main heritage area.

He suggested that those who lived in the converted properties might find the large glass area difficult in terms of maintaining heating or even to cover with blinds or curtains.

He said many of the properties in the town centre had been converted from houses originally and it might be better to revert to something like the original appearance.