A DECISION on plans to increase the number of apartments to be built at the site of a former old people's home has been put on hold by councillors.

Farr Horizon Developments was given the go-ahead to build nine apartments at Haulgh Cottage, in Radcliffe Road, The Haulgh, last August, but wants to add three more to the scheme.

Bolton Council's planning and highways committee deferred a decision after ward councillor Nick Peel asked for details on how the changes would affect the size of the one and two-bed apartments.

The nursing home closed last year, having been blacklisted by Bolton Council following a Government inspection which criticised levels of cleanliness.

The Government's Commission for Social Care Inspection team found some of the 39 residents sitting in stained clothes, while a lack of activities and a dirty kitchen were also criticised.

The building, which dates to 1836, was first used as a hotel and then a riding school, before conversion to a care home in 1984.