A FORMER social club with a troubled past looks set to be bulldozed and replaced with housing.

District councillors are being urged to approve proposals to demolish the old Fordingbridge Club and build eight homes and a shop on the town centre site.

The two-storey complex at Roundhill has been empty for five years. An application by Northshore Homes to redevelop the site is due to be debated by the district council’s planning and development control committee on Wednesday.

The scheme has sparked three letters of objection from people protesting about what they describe as the lack of parking for the new homes. But a report to councillors says the proposed development would make a positive contribution to the character and appearance of the local conservation area and provide a cluster of new homes in a “sustainable location”.

“While it is unfortunate a higher quantity of retail or commercial space has not been provided and that a private community facility would be lost, a new retail unit would front on to Roundhill, creating an attractive frontage,” says the report.

Fordingbridge Town Council is supporting the proposal, saying it will resolve issues surrounding the “difficult” site.

In 2012 police called for the club to be closed down following allegations that a drunken barman had served people who were under-age.

It also alleged that drug-dealing had taken place on the premises - but the club closed before the issue could be considered by councillors.

In 2008 an inquest heard that Shaun Wells, 24, of Whitsbury Road, Fordingbridge died from an accidental drug overdose after an evening out at the venue.