A FORMER DIY store in Southampton is set to be transformed into flats for hundreds of students.

The bulldozers are set to move in to knock down the former B&Q store in Mayfield Road after councillors gave the £40m flat complex the green light.

The firm behind the plans for the site in Swaythling say the scheme will create hundreds of jobs and free up more family homes for city residents.

As revealed in the Daily Echo, the plans for a mixture of three, four and five-storey buildings were filed by Sladen Estates and Britel Fund Trustees Ltd last year.

B&Q closed the store, pictured below, which was one of the first in the UK, on March 1.

Daily Echo:

Last night city councillors at the planning and rights of way panel heard from resident Tim Barrett-Smith and ward councillors Sharon Mintoff and Bob Painton, who argued that the new complex would be an overdevelopment of the site and add to increased parking issues in the surrounding areas.

Some councillors on the panel acknowledged the potential issues, but a majority voted to give the plans the green light.

It means work to create the 180 flats and a new community cafe is now set to begin early next year, and could be complete in time for the summer of 2017.