A former scuba diving shop in Macclesfield is set to be turned into an office and apartments following approval from Cheshire East planners.

The owner of the New Horizons premises on Park Lane intends to subdivide the retail unit to create four one-bedroom apartments and a ground floor office.

Planning officers approved the proposal with conditions yesterday, despite concerns being raised about the lack of parking by a neighbouring resident and Macclesfield Town Council.

The resident, who lives on Rodney Street, said: "Parking is already a major issue hindered by the amount of double yellow lines."

When consulted on the matter, Cheshire East Highways raised no objections.

An officer from the council department said: "Under normal circumstance four, one-bedroom flats would attract an off-street parking space requirement of one space per flat, in order to accord with CEC minimum parking standards for residential dwellings.

"However, due to the existing site use and the town centre location of the site, I am prepared to relax the standards to zero on the grounds of the sustainability of the site location and the limited scale of the proposals, which will replace the existing site uses."

Along with the subdivisions internally, the owner intends to raise the roof and build an extension onto the first floor.

The planning officer's report says that residents of the apartments will have access to a "small courtyard area" accessible from the rear of the property.

The application was approved yesterday (25 March) with ten conditions applied.

Among these, the owner must submit which exterior materials will be used to planning officers to "ensure that the external appearance of the building is acceptable".

Planning officers said the owner must provide "parking facilities" for at least four bicycles "to encourage the use of alternative forms of transport to the site".

The council will also require that a "verification report" be presented before any part of the building can be occupied to ensure that it "is suitable for its end use".