SCALED back plans to convert a landmark town centre building into flats have been revealed.

Earlier this year, London-based developer Stuart Hammond of Ferngreen submitted proposals to Hyndburn Council seeking permission to convert the vacant top two floors of the Burtons Building on Blackburn Road in Accrington into 30 studio flats for young professional single people.

The plan would have seen the frontage of the building restored as part of a Heritage Lottery-funded initiative.

The plan is in keeping with similar moves to revive ‘urban living’ seen with the former Lancashire Telegraph offices in Blackburn and in The Weavers Triangle in Burnley.

But the scheme was withdrawn and now a new application for 24 apartments has been put forward to the council for consideration.

Council bosses had said too many apartments were included in the previous application and fears were raised the development would attract “undesirable” tenants.

Penelope Durham, of HTC Architects, said: “Ferngreen wish to convert the first and second floors into apartments. A previous application has already received approval for 20 one and two-bed apartments.

“A more recent application was made for 30 studio apartments but this was deemed by planners to be overly dense and there was a feeling this sort of studio apartment would attract undesirable tenants.

“The planners would like the apartments to conform to national space standards.

“However they are aware that the owner of the building needs to create a certain number of apartments to make the scheme financially viable.

“To this end, it has been agreed that the apartments could be within 10 to 15 per cent of the space standards and our scheme has consequently been designed with this in mind.”

The inter-war former store opposite Accrington Town Hall has shops on the ground floor, which will be retained, while the upper floors have been empty for more than 10 years since their use for antiques trading ended.

One of the curiosities of the building is that, like a number of others, it bears a foundation stone laid by one of proprietor Montague Burton’s immediate family.

Barbara Jessie Burton, his only daughter, is named on the 1927 datestone for the structure, situated near a doorway on Dutton Street.