A new £2.8million North West Leicestershire District Council customer service centre in Coalville has been rubber stamped by planners - after work began on the development earlier this month.

The Council gave the green light to complete the redevelopment of the site in Belvoir Road, at the entrance to the shopping centre.

The unit was occupied last year by Buddies' Bar, which has now moved to a new site in Hotel Street and renamed Buddies' :Lounge.

Plans for the new centre were revealed by the District Council last year - and it has already announced that work has begun on the development.

The council has said that the move will take all customer appointments – including council tax, benefits and fraud, environmental protection, planning, housing, licensing, waste and communities – to a new, more accessible location in Belvoir Road,

A police enquiries desk will also be located in the Customer Centre.  

The application made to District Council planners was for a change of use from a bar to customer service centre and offices.

Despite making the centre more accessible for customer in the town centre, Leicestershire County Council Highways pointed out the lack of parking facilities.

An officer's report says: "The County Highways Authority note that no parking spaces are proposed, but consider that the lack of parking can be catered for by the existing infrastructure which makes Coalville a sustainable location.

"For this reason, the County Highways Authority consider a car-free development in this sustainable location to be acceptable in this case.

"In the case of this application the proposal is not considered to have any significant detrimental design, residential amenity or highway safety or parking related impacts.

"At the time of the officer site visit, work on the proposed change of use had commenced with works to the rear of the premises complete and substantial works undertaken to the front elevation."