PLANS to turn Blackburn's run-down Waterloo Pavilions into a high-class restaurant are set to be approved tonight -- despite claims renovation work could lead to one of the three buildings collapsing.

Blackburn Cathedral bought the Pavilions, in Church Street, from Blackburn with Darwen Council earlier this year and announced multi-million pound plans to build glass structures in between each of the three units, effectively creating one building.

It has lined up Northcote Manor owner Nigel Haworth to occupy the Grade II listed buildings once the transformation is complete.

Members of Blackburn with Darwen's planning and highways committee will tonight be presented with a report on the proposals and be urged to approve the scheme.

But a Blackburn-based building consultant's comments are also noted in the report.

He claims that plans to remove a heavy bank vault from the basement of one of the buildings to create space for staff quarters would put the 170-year-old construction under extreme stress.

He wrote: "The act of removing this, along with the installation of heavy concrete floors and steel supporting beams, would, I feel, be beyond the building's structural capability. The sheer weight of these additional items, may be enough to force the existing walls out.

"If the cathedral is prepared to go to this expense to refurbish the buildings, it may be more appropriate to dismantle them and reconstruct on modern foundations with timber floors. This would enable the building's appearance to remain exactly the same, but ensure their stability."

English Heritage has also asked for more information on what impact modern building needs, such as fire escapes, will have on the building. Blackburn Civic Society has called for some of the original Georgian features of the middle Pavilion, altered when last in use, to be restored.

In summing up, planning officers made no reference to the letter from building consultant Mr Ron Crane, of Walden Road, Blackburn. A spokesman for the council said: "The proposed development will complement the improvement works and landscaping being carried out along Church Street. It will secure the long-term future for these listed buildings."

An application for permission to alter the interiors is also recommended for approval.

Both applications have to be rubber-stamped by the Secretary of State for the regions before work can begin.