A former pub in Chorley is to be converted into more than a dozen bedsits – some of which have been blasted by councillors for being like “a small box”.

The Duke of York, just south of the town centre, closed its doors for the final time almost two years ago and planning permission has now been granted to turn it into housing.

Fourteen rooms are to be created across the ground floor and basement of the Bolton Street premises, establishing a so-called “house in multiple occupation” (HMO). 

The bedsits will each have their own ensuite area, but the people living there will share a communal kitchen and living room.

Elsewhere, on the first and second floors, six self-contained one-bedroomed flats will be developed.

However, the size of some of the accommodation within the HMO – which ranges from just 6.7sq/m up to 16.3sq/m – attracted criticism from members of Chorley Council’s planning committee.

Cllr Alistair Morwood, who is also the authority’s cabinet member for planning and development, accused the applicant of being “greedy” by cramming in too many rooms.

“I don’t know who it’s aimed at, [but] there is a bedroom…[of] 11.1sq/m – a small box.   I just think that’s outrageous.

“Sadly, there is no planning reason to turn it down, but I think that’s out of order.

"It’s time we started bringing in some standards that say how big these things should be – especially in a basement, with limited light,” Cllr Morwood said.

Deputy committee chair Alex Hilton echoed those concerns, adding: “There are some dog kennels that are bigger than some of these rooms – I think it’s appalling.”

However, the rooms do comply with minimum size standards set out in national legislation, which stipulate that spaces intended to sleep one person over the age of 10 must be at least 6.51sq/m.

The flats on the upper floors of the once-popular pub will be much larger – between 38 and 47.3sq/m.

Top Mark Properties, the firm behind the scheme, said in its application that the HMO was intended to be used as “supported housing” which would offer a 24-hour “concierge service”.

Committee member Jean Sherwood said HMO conversion projects elsewhere in the borough had “proved very successful”.

Her colleague, Craige Southern – while expressing similar dismay about room size – said it was a building issue rather than planning one.

Chorley Council’s head of planning and enforcement Adele Hayes told the committee that the “quality of the accommodation” would be controlled through the authority’s licensing regime, administered by its environmental health team.

There will be no parking spaces for future occupants of the property, but Ms Hayes said it was deemed to be “within acceptable walking distance” of shops and other services – as well as being less than 200 metres from the town’s bus and railway stations.

Bollards will also be placed outside the premises to prevent parking that would otherwise block the pavement.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service has been unable to reach Top Mark Properties for comment.