A PLAN to create new flats above the former Shoe Zone shop and warm hub in Kidderminster town centre has been approved.

A planning application was submitted to the local authority seeking to change the use of the first and second floors of 16 Vicar Street to three apartments.

The submitted plans show the flats will be laid out as two one-bedroom apartments on the first floor and one two-bedroom apartment on the second floor.

The ground floor commercial space of the building, which is currently empty, will be unaffected by the plans.

Wyre Forest District has now granted prior approval for the project to be carried out.

Shoe Zone previously moved its store to the former Trespass site on Vicar Street.

16 Vicar Street later became a community warm hub, which supported people struggling to heat their homes in the wintertime.