GARAGES near a proposed office and flats development could stay.

Planning permission was granted for the garages to be demolished and three ground-floor offices and six first-floor apartments to be built at the site of the former Central Club in Harrison Street, Horwich.

But the applicant has applied for permission to vary some of the conditions.

Councillors were concerned about the state of the garages and recommended that the application should be refused.

Cllr Kieran McGeehan said: “I want to see the land redeveloped because it is a mess at the moment, but I want to recommend refusal because we can not remove condition three.”

Condition three stated that no development should commence until the garages have been demolished and the use of the land has ceased.