A plan to convert a lap dancing club into a complex of seven apartments in a conservation area in the centre of Altrincham has been refused.

Totties occupies part of the ground floor and first floor among three retail units on George Street with the rear of the property facing The Causeway.

The club has been the source of numerous complaints over fighting, shouting and people urinating outside, further highlighted in the applicants submission to Trafford council which said: “The use of the upper floor as a night club has been an ongoing source of public concern and proposals to redevelop the site in a manner that ceases that use could be a significant benefit to public amenity.”

Applicant Charlotte Street Estates Ltd, based in Altrincham, wanted to put three self-contained apartments on the first floor and then extend the building to a second floor where there would four more.

It would have also involved the demolition of the existing flat roof to be replaced by a pitched roof.

But the application for ‘permission in principle’ approval has been refused as a result of a decision taken by the council’s planning officers under delegated powers.

In a report, they said ‘the amount of development on the site that has been put forward would be harmful’.

It goes on: “The proposed development…would appear over-dominant, contrived and incongruous.

“It would result in moderate harm to the character and appearance of the George Street Conservation Area and negligible harm to the Stamford New Road Conservation Area.”

The report said a development of between five and seven apartments would provide ‘a modest benefit’ towards the council’s five-year housing supply target.

It also said there would a conflict with planning policy as a result of ‘heritage harm’.

In conclusion, it says: “The public benefits of the development do not outweigh the identified harm to the designated heritage assets.”