PLANS for a five-storey building containing shops and apartments to be built in place of a unique steak house located in a plane fuselage have been approved.

The new building, on the junction of Deane Road, Chamberlain Street and Salisbury Street would accommodate 13 one and two-bedroom flats with retail space on the ground floor.

The land is currently used as a restaurant and car park by Steaks on a Plane.

An application was submitted by developers Kadva Properties.

It said: “The ground floor unit has been designed so that it can operate as one unit, or two smaller units.

“Pedestrian access will be from Deane Road to the front.”

Councillor Andrew Morgan, told a planning meeting: “This site is on one of the major routes into Bolton. It’s near the UTC.

“Parking in this area is horrendous. There are double yellow lines opposite where the old Lakeland used to be.

“These 13 flats and the retail space will only exacerbate the problem.

“There is no space for parking in the application. I’m a bit shocked that the highways people have allowed this through without any parking.

“I would say this needs to be refused.”

The decommissioned 1970s Russian airliner was saved from the scrap yard by a family business run by seven brothers who started their business nearly 18 years ago.

The Steak Out first pitched up in Deane Road as a trailer, before upgrading to a double-decker bus in 2012 when demand grew for a seating area.

The plane fuselage, which seats 28 people, opened in 2017 and was nicknamed Steaks on a Plane after the Hollywood movie Snakes on a Plane.

The site is surrounded by large three-storey Victorian buildings and a large University faculty building with high floor to floor levels.

The three main floors of the proposed building would each accommodate four apartments.

A single one-bedroom apartment and three two-bedroom apartments are planned on each floor.

Seven letters of objection received raised concerns of congestion in the Deane Road area, impact on loss of light and the impact on parking saying ‘there is already congestion – where will the extra cars be parked for residents and shoppers?’.

The planning report, concluded: “Deane Road local shopping area will result in the development of a brownfield site which is currently in use as a car park and restaurant.

“The principle of commercial use in this location is acceptable and meets local policy objectives.”

The application was passed by Bolton Council’s planning committee.