New plans have been submitted to turn a former bank in the town centre into flats, with plans for a café now abandoned.

Two plans to convert the vacant former Co-op bank at 34 St Mary's Butts into four flats, one of which would have included a café, have been approved by the council in recent years.

However, the developer has decided to not go ahead with either of these plans and instead now wants to turn the site into five flats.

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A new planning application has been submitted by RPS Property Services to change the first and second floors from the old bank into four one-bed flats and the rear part of the ground floor into one flat.

Reading Chronicle: PICTURED: The proposed flats planPICTURED: The proposed flats plan

It is not clear what will happen to the front part of the ground floor, which would remain as Class E usage (Commercial, Business and Service).

The previous plans also sought to turn the first and second floors into four flats, with the first proposal, approved in November 2019, seeking to create four serviced apartments plus a café on the ground floor.

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The second plan, approved in March 2021, sought a rear extension to allow for two two-bed flats alongside two one-bed flats on the first and second floors, with no change to the ground floor.

There is no rear extension planned in the latest proposal, which is simply seeking a change of use on each floor, with just part of the ground floor to remain as a shop.