A CITY centre eyesore that was seriously damaged by fire almost four years ago looks set to be turned into apartments.

Plans to demolish the former Labour Club on New Street, which was partly demolished in a blaze, in July 1999, to make way for 23 flats were submitted last year.

But the developer, Selbourne Homes Ltd, withdrew its proposal because city planners were concerned about some of the details.

Gavin Warr, managing director from the West Hagley-based firm, said since then a lot of work had gone into the plans to iron out some of the problems.

"We have made some changes to take into account the comments of the local authority," he said.

"We have got something now that we hope will be approved."

"It is a terrible site at the moment - a real eyesore - and the idea is to clean it up as soon as possible and start building these apartments," he added.

Principal planning officer, Peter Yates, agreed that the site desperately needed a facelift.

"We would like to see a successful redevelopment of that site, which looks really scruffy at the moment," he said.

The plans are due to go to the city council's planning committee on Thursday, April 24.