YORK residents will soon be able to have their say on the city's proposed new £40 million council headquarters, after the plans were formally submitted.

Bosses at City of York Council have tabled a planning application for their controversial, purpose-built offices at Hungate, east of the city centre.

Coun Ceredig Jamieson-Ball, the council's executive member for corporate services, said the submission of the plans was a "significant step".

He said: "With the planning application now submitted, residents and interested parties will be able to make formal comments and I hope they use this as an opportunity to have their say."

The council is vacating a number of office buildings around the city, to bring them all under one roof at Hungate.

Coun Jamieson-Ball said the move would bring "significant benefits" to the council, in terms of finance, the environment and customer service.

But the move has been ravaged by controversy since first being mooted several years ago.

The projected cost rose twice, from an initial £27 million to more than £40 million, while the design has also sparked fierce debate, with the original blueprints being widely condemned by conservationists and the public.

Philip Thake, chief executive of York Conservation Trust, called the structure "extremely boring" and said he was "gob-smacked by the blandness of it all", while York Civic Trust dubbed it an "ugly, unrelenting erection" that was intimidating, alienating and unwelcoming.

Architects have since re-drawn the plans, with a more staggered roof-line and a less box-like appearance.

In an internal email, a council spokeswoman said: "The design has been modified, with the building set slightly further back from the road. The scale has also been altered by setting back the fourth floor adjacent to the Black Swan Pub, thereby reducing the apparent height of the building."

Although the planning application has been submitted, it is still in the process of being registered by officers so is not yet publicly viewable.