COUNCILLORS have agreed to buy 46 flats from a development company once they have been built on the site of the St Stephen's Road car park in Bournemouth.

The site is one of 17 originally owned by Bournemouth council but then sold to or earmarked for the Bournemouth Development Company (BDC), which is a partnership between the council and Morgan Sindall Investments.

A planning application has been submitted to build two blocks of flats - one six storey and one seven storey - and yesterday members of the council's Cabinet agreed a recommendation to buy the flats when they are complete.

The flats will be let out for profit by the council-owned Seascape Homes and Property Ltd under a 25-year lease.