PLANS to extend a currently derelict building to deliver a gym above a pet store and vets in Christchurch have been approved.

The application to operate a fitness suite on the first floor and a new second floor of the rundown building on the Somerford Road site the site was given the green light just weeks after a change of use bid by the same applicant was granted for ground floor.

Bestminster Ltd had been given permission to operate a pet store, with a veterinary surgery, by Christchurch Borough Council planning officers in early September.

The developer has now also obtained approval to extend the building, which has sat unused for many years, with an additional floor and deliver a gym.

Earlier this year the Daily Echo reported on incidents of vandalism at the site, with police being called to the area.

Details on the pet shop retailer and gym provider were not included in the applications, but both were submitted by lease and real estate operators Bestminster Ltd, based in New Milton.

Permission had previously been obtained to use part of the building’s first floor and a new second floor for residential purposes in a redevelopment scheme, according to planning consultants Chapman Lily Planning Limited.

A report by Christchurch Borough Council planning officer Sophie Mawdsley says the building is in a “very poor state” and has a “negative impact” on the visual amenities of the street scene.

She adds that the additional storey had already been established with a previous application for residential units.

Ms Mawdsley's report says: “Whilst the proposal would result in the loss of a B class use within an area identified to be protected for such uses, given the planning history of the site it is considered that the principle of this change of use and additional storey is acceptable subject to conditions."