Plans to convert a disused Masonic temple in a Herefordshire town into two flats have been approved.

The temple forms the top two floors of the four-storey, grade II listed 10 Wye Street, Ross-on-Wye, though access to the new flats, as with its previous use, would be off Wilton Road, level with the fourth floor.

The two upper floors were used until recently by the Vitruvian Lodge, which has now moved to new premises.

Several blocked-up windows, including the large central window which gives onto Wilton Road, are to be reopened, under the plan put forward by Manbro Developments.

There were no public objections to its plan. Alison Lathan said it would “make good use of the upper floors of the building, providing much-needed accommodation within the town”.

Ross-on-Wye town council also gave the proposal its backing.

Planning officer Joshua Evans concluded it would provide a new viable new use for an empty historic building, and that the planned internal subdivisions would “not adversely impact” it, and indeed would retain the character of the third-floor hall.

The separate lower two floors, accessed from Wye Street, are already in residential use.