PLANS to transform a vacant office block into 90 flats are back before town hall chiefs.

The scheme to convert Lincoln House into residential space, which were described as a "cross between a prison and a battery farm", has now been changed.

The proposal was passed by Bolton's planning committee last year despite some units falling short of national internal space standards.

The new application seeks to create four more one-bedroom flats and at the expense of four studio apartments at the Nelson Street site.

The number of two-bedroom units proposed remains at 18.

Concerns were raised by councillors on the planning committee in August relating to the standard of accommodation being offered.

But the majority of committee members felt they had no choice but to wave the plans through under the current planning laws.

Cllr Nick Peel said the committee was hamstrung by planning policy changes brought in by the government, citing the 2013 permitted development rights.

Planning officers are due to decide the outcome of the latest application by the end of July.