Office-to-bedsit plan blocked as area is too noisy

Plans to turn a vacant office building in Preston city centre into dozens of bedsits have been blocked – amid fears the location would prove too noisy for future residents.

Preston City Council has rejected a proposal to convert the property, on Church Street, into a 30-bed house in multiple occupation (HMO).

The blueprint would have seen the two-storey premises – known as Premier House – repurposed to provide the new accommodation, along with what was described as a "high end" cafe-cum-resturant. A single office unit was also to have been retained.

The eatery is classed as 'permitted development', meaning planning approval is not required – and so that element of the scheme could be implemented in isolation, in spite of the HMO itself being refused.

The application – by Castle Hom