PLANS by developers to create more student flats on the site of a former York dairy have been approved.

Leeds-based UniLiving Ltd secured permission from City of York Council last year to build accommodation for 282 students on the site of the Co-op Dairy, in Hull Road, but then redesigned the scheme to provide space for 323 people.

The council’s planning committee backed the reworked scheme this week, with the flats set to be spread across five blocks.

Local residents had complained that the complex would intrude on their privacy and lead to an increase in noise and anti-social behaviour in the area.

Most of the accommodation blocks would be four-and-a-half storeys tall, with UniLiving saying the scheme could reduce the need for heavily-criticised houses in multiple occupation being built in nearby communities.