Plans to turn an historic former mill into 17 apartments are set to be approved – just weeks after a similar building was demolished following a devastating fire.

Applicant Amir Wahid's proposals would see the vacant, Grade II listed Well Street Mill in Leek return to residential use, after previously being used as accommodation for Alton Towers workers.

Planning officers at Staffordshire Moorlands District Council have recommended the scheme for approval, despite objectors raising concerns over the lack of parking. Members of the planning committee will consider the application when they meet on Thursday.

The meeting comes less than a month after the Grade II listed Big Mill – another former silk mill in Leek – had to be demolished following a major fire.

Both buildings featured in a recent council report on Leek's historic mills, which raised concerns over their deterioration and called for action to bring them back into use.

In their report to the committee, planning officers say the proposal for Well Street Mill is acceptable in principle and would comply with local and national planning policy.

The report states: "The harm to the character and appearance of the listed building or the conservation area would be minimal and certainly 'less than substantial'.

"This harm would be clearly outweighed by the public benefits of the provision of housing and returning the listed building to its optimal viable use."

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The application has received eight objections from members of the public, with most of them raising concerns over the lack of parking and saying the scheme would exacerbate existing parking problems in the area. Six off-street parking spaces are included in the plans, which would be allocated to the flats on a lease basis.

Highways officers say that six parking spaces would be low for 17 apartments, but note that the site is 'sustainably located' near the town centre. Planning committee members were originally due to consider the application at their meeting in January, but the item was deferred.

Since then, discussions have taken place between the applicant, Severn Trent Water and flood officers over drainage issues. According to the report, the proposed drainage scheme is now considered acceptable by all parties.