Plans have been submitted for a vacant office in Ipswich town centre to be converted into 61 one-bed apartments.

An application for prior approval for change of use from commercial to apartments has been submitted to Ipswich Borough Council.

The apartments would be built in Giles Place, at 31 Princes Street in Ipswich town centre, the former offices of Direct Line Group.

The building, which is made up of four storeys, already has existing planning approval to form 39 apartments across the four flats.

This application shows plans for 22 more flats to make it to 61, as well as the proposed layout of each flat.

All flats applied for will be one-bedroom flats, catering for either one person or two people, with some being studio.

The building has been subject to multiple planning applications in the past, with applications made over time to add more flats on, including eight most recently, but these were refused by the council over inadequate lighting.

These plans however, address this issue, stating that all of the apartments proposed are in floors of the building where existing permission stands and each of the habitable rooms of the flats proposed would benefit from the "significant existing fenestration within the building".

The application states that the proposed plans to form 61 apartments is "wholly in accord with Class MA (mercantile to abode) of the General Permitted Development Order and the Prior Notification Procedure".

Ipswich Borough Council will discuss these latest plans in due course.