PLANS have been submitted for a new block of student accommodation in Bournemouth.

The scheme would see an office block at 1 Lorne Park Road, off Old Christchurch Road, demolished and replaced with a five storey block of 38 studio flats.

The existing building, on the 'island' between Lorne Park Road and Cumnor Road, already has planning permission to be converted to house 10 flats.

However, a previous proposal to demolish the building, then in favour of a four storey block of 24 flats, in November 2015 was refused by Bournemouth council planners due to the alleged bulk of the replacement building.

The existing building is also deemed a 'positive contribution' to the area under the council's planning policy.

And again in September 2016 a revised scheme for a four storey block of 20 flats was also rejected, although an appeal has been submitted to the national Planning Inspectorate.

The application by Mr D Messias, presented by Pure Town Planning, states: "Given this prominent corner site location, it is envisaged that the proposal would introduce an attractive form of student development which can be assimilated into this area of significant transformation and increased scale, without the risk of being seen as an overdevelopment of the site."

It says the scale of the development has been reduced, and the proposed building set back from the road, in response to previous criticisms by town planners.

"Under a previous application, the LPA notes that this particular island site is more than capable of accommodating such an increase in scale given its prominent corner location," the application states.

"Whilst the previous proposal was considered to be set too close to the respective street scenes which increased the perceived scale and massing of the building on the site, the current scheme in its reduced footprint and enhanced setback is better proportioned and creates a more visually acceptable traditional style residential block to the Lorne Park Road/Cumnor Road street scene."

Student accommodation has been a major aspect of town centre development in Bournemouth in recent years, part of some £210 million invested over the past three years, including the Bournemouth Development Company scheme in Madeira Road.

Last year the council approved a 14 storey block of 550 student flats in Lansdowne Road put forward by Bournemouth University as part of a revamped science campus.