PLANS to bulldoze a former Quarry Bank health club and build a brand new gym plus 26 new homes on the site have been given the green light.

Members of Dudley's development control committee have given their approval to the proposal to demolish the old gym in Thorns Road, which was operated by Fitness4Less, and replace it with a brand new facility and 26 new homes.

Back in the days when it was known as Helios Heath Spa, the gym used to double as the motel gym in soap opera Crossroads and was regularly on TV screens.

It has been empty and overgrown for the last few years but the site is now set to be given a brand new lease of life .

At last night's online planning meeting (Thursday June 25) councillors gave the go ahead for the existing gym to be knocked down and replaced with a brand new facility with a swimming pool - and for 16 townhouses with three or four bedrooms and 10 apartments to be built on the site.

The new houses will be accessed off Grosvenor Way - with access to the gym, which will be smaller than the original, off Thorns Road. The 10 apartments are to be created on the top floor of the three-storey gym building.

Contemporary in design, the new gym will include a swimming pool, changing areas, offices, studios, plant room and open plan gymnasium - and both the gym and apartments will share a car park.

A vacant house to the north of the main building will also be demolished as part of the scheme.

A report to the planning committee said the development is considered "appropriate from a design, density, amenity and highway safety point of view" following the refusal of a similar scheme in 2018.