Industrial buildings are to be demolished to build 16 houses and a three-storey apartment block.

Plans have been approved for the development on Shepherd Cross Street. Halliwell, where 14 four-bed mews houses and six apartments can now be built.

Around 3,755 sq metres of units at the Shepherd Cross industrial estate will need to be knocked down at the site, close to the junction with Elgin Street.

There remain existing industrial units to the south of the site and Wordsworth Mill to the east.

A design and access statement on behalf of the applicants KC Sheet Metal, said: “The proposal would provide safe access and the amenities of surrounding properties would be unharmed.

“The site offers easy access to local shops and schools, via public transport, or by walking.

“It would provide a high quality development and represent a positive enhancement of this area of Bolton.”

The townhouses are planned in three blocks of four, five and seven units and will front onto Shepherds Cross Street and Elgin Street and a central courtyard to the rear of the properties will provide parking.

The three-storey apartment block will be built to the rear of the houses and the ground and first floor have two bedrooms with those on floors two and three being one-bedroom.

A planning officer report added: “The site is in a mixed, yet predominantly residential area e is therefore considered to be a sustainable location.

“Given the existing use of the site as a working industrial estate, the vehicle movements would be less for the proposed use than the existing and therefore there will be a lesser impact on the highway network than the existing industrial use.”

No letters of objection were received by Bolton Council and the scheme has been approved this week.