PIZZA Express could be on its way to Malvern after plans to convert a Belle Vue Terrace building into a restaurant were approved.

Geoffrey Tipping, owner of 6-8 Belle Vue Terrace, told the Malvern Gazette last week that the restaurant chain was interested in moving into the building.

The district council's southern area development control committee unanimously supported the plans at a meeting on Tuesday night.

Priory Ward member Coun Roger Hall Jones backed the proposals, but was concerned the restaurant would have a "dead frontage" during the day- time.

The building currently houses shops and offices.

At the same meeting, the committee ruled four houses could be built in the gardens of Barnards Green House, which often opens its grounds to the public.

Coun Jon Rayner said: "I think it's sad to see perhaps the most beautiful gardens in Malvern being split up.

"But I recognise, in reality, there's nothing in the application to which we can take exception on policy grounds."