PLANS to turn a pub in Kearsley into office space have been approved.

The ground floor of the Church Hotel, in Church Road, will be converted into offices.

The offices are set to be open between 7.30am to 6pm Monday to Friday, and 8am to 1pm on Saturday. No opening is allowed to take place on Sundays or Bank Holidays.

Stables at the back of the pub will be knocked down to make way for a car park with 17 spaces.

No changes will be made to the living quarters on the upper two floors of the building where the licensee lives.

Initial plans were submitted by Steven Johnson from Johnson’s Construction Limited in Leigh, in February of this year. Updated drawings and site plans were sent to Bolton Council in May.

Planning officers approved the proposals earlier this week with a number of conditions.

The conditions include ensuring all 17 car parking spaces being made available during the operating hours. Trees and shrubs will also need to be planted on the site to ‘”reflect and soften the setting of the development within the landscape”.