A section of the Promenade in Cheltenham will be redeveloped into nine flats after plans were approved by the council.

Cheltine Ltd has been given permission to transform the upper floors of 102-106 into homes and create a new commercial unit behind them.

The proposals will result in a loss of retail floorspace but it was pushed through due to the council's lack of five-year housing supply.

The Government's National Planning Policy Framework states in this case proposals should be approved "without delay" unless any adverse impacts "significantly and demonstrably" outweigh the benefits.

The original properties, which date back to at least 1845, were used as homes and the commercial frontages added later.

The shops have previously been occupied by the likes of Dale Forty and Co pianoforte and harmonium tuners, Wolfe and Hollander, luggage maker W. Coltman, Beetham & Clark, chemists, photographer Urwin Frank Oswald and costumier Lafayette Ltd and most recently White Stuff and Gap.

The Grade II Listed site currently has an empty shop on the ground floor of 102-104 and 106 is home to Little Dobbies.

The upper floors were formerly used as staff welfare and storage areas but the applicant said they are run down and underutilised. Its plans are aimed at answering "economic changes on the high street and the reduction in retail areas and values".

The flats it creates will compromise of four one-bed and five two-bed units with access via a

pedestrian door on the Promenade, a new access point from Imperial Lane or via a new external courtyard and landscaped area.

An existing single storey building to the rear of the site was previously linked to the shop at 106 and will be transformed into a new retail unit.

Cheltenham's Civic Society supported the application and welcomed the plans to improve

and make better use of the building.

Cheltine had originally wanted to knock down a larger portion of the site and create another 15 homes at the rear. But it withdrew those plans after the council said they were unlikely to be approved.

The scaled back version was approved by the council on Friday (July 12) and the first phase to refurbish the existing building can now start.

Officers conclude that "some harm" would be caused to the listed by the development but it would be "less than substantial" and outweighed by the public benefits of the development.

Their report said: "The proposed works would refurbish the upper floors of an unused listed building that is in desperate need of renovation, therefore seeking to conserve the heritage asset for the future and bringing the building back into use, whilst also providing nine much needed residential units to Cheltenham's housing stock."