Eight affordable homes could be built in the town centre if plans are given the green light by Dorset Council.

An application to demolish the coal yard buildings near Rope Walks car park and build eight homes was submitted by CG Fry & Son builders - although it is yet to appear in the planning portal due to delays.

The site is currently occupied by a tree surgery business and it's understood the landowner has offered the business owner an alternative premises nearby.

The site is in the Bridport Conservation Area and there are no listed buildings within it, although there are some around it, and is also within the defined development boundary.

Paul Hoffman, planner at CG Fry & Son, said: "It's a row of terraces, all with gardens and a single parking space, which we think is acceptable in this location because of the town centre location, it is only a few minutes' walk to various services.

"The site is within the defined development boundary and therefore, open market housing is available on this site.

"We're seeking to erect all of them as affordable dwellings and then Hastoe [Housing Association] will take them on and manage them in perpetuity."

He said the plans benefited the town as they were in line with the local plan, would provide homes to those on the housing register and make the site more attractive.

Mr Hoffman added: "The site at the moment is a bit of a mess, given that the business that runs out of it doesn't need for it to be pretty, so naturally it has a detrimental impact on the conservation area which it sits in and the listed buildings around it.

"We're developing this site with these dwellings, that in itself will have a positive impact on the heritage assets."

Vehicle access to the site will be via Rope Walks Road. A new footpath within the site will connect into the existing footpath on Rope Walks Road and the site will not be accessed directly from Rope Walks car park.

The applicants had a pre-planning consultation with Dorset Council and the conservation officer, who Mr Hoffman said were "very much on board with it in principle", but the conservation officer did want one of the stone buildings to remain.

"There is one building on site that her [the conservation officer] preference is to be retained," said Mr Hoffman. "All the other buildings on site are fairly modern, pretty ugly, no problem with those going, but that one in the top right-hand corner is an old stone building. It's not listed, it's not a designated heritage asset, it's not a non-designated heritage asset, it's just an old building."

He said that if they were to keep the building, the development would be unviable.

Mr Hoffman added: "Because of the construction, size and scale, we wouldn't be able to convert it into a property, we would have to keep is as a stone building and use it as a bit of a lock up building.

"We would have to have a certain offset from it and essentially lose two houses, a scheme of eight dwellings becomes a scheme of six dwellings and that in itself doesn't make the scheme viable.

"Our view is, in order for this to go ahead, that is going to have to go.

"The stone from the building we are proposing to reuse on that location. The end plot that is facing towards The Tanyard, the stone will be reused in the dwelling."

Jo Petford, of Hastoe Housing Association, said: "We're keen to work with Frys to bring these properties forward.

"We are looking at doing some shared ownership and some affordable rented properties."

We will update readers once the planning application has been registered and can be seen on Dorset Council's planning portal.