PLANS to demolish one of Darlington town centre's most prominent buildings to make way for apartments were approved yesterday.

Larchfield Sports Centre, in Larchfield Street, will be pulled down and 44 sheltered flats for elderly people built in its place.

Darlington Borough Council's planning committee supported the development when it met at the town hall.

As well as the flats, there will be a home for a resident house manager and car parking spaces.

Councillor Sheila Brown said: "I'm totally in favour of this. The centre is quite ugly and I think we'll be doing people round about a favour."

Councillor Gerald Lee said: "It's certainly well-designed and well-conceived and is an improvement to the area. It has everything going for it."

The nearby St Augustine's Parish Church had submitted a late request for a pedestrian crossing to be installed, but planning officer Adrian Miller said it had arrived too late for developers to include it.

The sports centre was owned by Darlington College of Technology, which is moving to a £34.5m brownfield site off Haughton Road. Sporting and leisure facilities will be provided at the new campus.