PLANS to build a block of flats with more than 130 homes have been approved – despite the building having no provision for affordable homes.

A 132-home block will now be built seven storeys high in Birkenhead town centre after plans were approved by Wirral Council’s planning committee on Thursday.

But concerns were raised at the meeting as developments of this type are usually required to have 10% of the units designated as 'affordable.'

Committee member Cllr Ian Lewis was one of those to raise concerns over the block, set to be built on the site where the Grand Ritz Cinema once stood on Conway Street.

He said: “I’m surprised this development of 132 units is not viable (for a 10% provision of affordable housing).

“That sends out the wrong signal to developers, particularly in an area with housing need.

“I’m disappointed that the applicant has not been able to come up with affordable units.”

The development will see flats complete with private garden terraces.

The town centre site, close to the Pyramids Shopping Centre, is currently used as a car park, and plans come 17 years after the iconic cinema was knocked down.

There will be 27 car parking spaces with the building, designed by architect Garry Underwood Associates.

Despite two objections including one from the Hamilton Square Conservation Area Advisory Committee over the 'brutalist' design and concerns over refuse disposal, the proposals were unanimously approved by councillors.

Approval was given subject to conditions including that some provision will be given for recycling facilities.

It comes after the proposals were set to be discussed by planners last month, but the decision was postponed to allow for a site visit.

According to the Cinema Treasures website, the Grand Ritz opened in 1937 but was damaged by a German bomb during the Second World War, three years later.

It came after a public event at the building. Dropping through the roof, the bomb killed 10 people, causing more than 100 casualties.

Following extensive repairs, the building reopened after the war and thrived as a cinema for decades before later being turned into a bingo hall in the 1990s.

Hundreds more homes on the site of a former school at Acre Lane, Bromborough were also set to be approved by planners on Thursday, but the application was deferred for a site visit.