Councillors took no more than five minutes to approve a plan to convert a family home in Old Town into a nine-bedroom house of multiple occupation.

At the planning committee meeting in July the plans put forward by Scott Kirby to convert 74 Bath Road into rooms 'for young professionals and weekly commuters' was sent back because of concerns about fire safety for one room in particular and ventilation in the ensuite bathrooms.

Mr Kirby adjusted his plans to install two new fire doors from the kitchen and added ventilation to all the rooms.

Coun Vera Tomlinson said: “The applicant has done everything that we have asked of him. I think we should approve this now.”

That was echoed by the chairman of the committee Tim Swinyard who was pleased by how the process had worked: “It’s good to see that what we have asked for in the report has been changed. It’s how this is supposed to work.”