COUNCILLORS are fearful that plans to convert a small Crewe pub into a nine-bed HMO will lead to overcrowding.

Plans have been submitted to Cheshire East Council to convert the Nags Head Pub and a three-bed first-floor residence above it into a House of Multiple Occupation.

The public house in a Victorian terrace at the corner of Market Street and Meredith Street reopened briefly after the first lockdown when restrictions eased last July, but is understood to have undergone a change of ownership and is currently closed.

Crewe town councillors were quick to voice their objections to the plan and say they are a "significant overdevelopment" of the building with potentially 18 individuals sharing the accommodation.

Concerns over the size of the bedrooms and the lack of lounges and social space were highlighted at the town council's planning committee last week.

And with central Crewe already home to a high number of HMOs, councillors claim there is a clear desire from residents to see such applications rejected.

Cllr Tom Dunlop said: "To convert a little pub into a dwelling for 18 people just doesn't work. You can't have that sort of accommodation and expect people to live in it - it just isn't big enough.

"People who are going to be living there are going to have the worst possible living space. They're going to have a bedroom and that is it. You can't call that home, that's a hotel or B&B. It's totally wrong."

While there may be "problems" inside the property, the planning committee members were also irritated by the lack of dedicated parking outside, with the Wrexham Terrace car park opposite being a chargeable borough council facility and unlikely to attract use by the new residents.

Concerns regarding the lack of space for waste bins [five] also raised question marks over fly-tipping.

A design and access statement by Grant Erskine Architects on behalf of the Hale-based applicant reveals that eight of the nine bedrooms are en-suite and there will be a ground-floor kitchen/dining room.

The agents state the building falls in an area where the development of unallocated or "windfall" housing sites can make an important contribution to the borough's housing provision.

But among the consultations a resident objecting to the plans noted: "This is the second proposal for a public house to be lost in Crewe in the last two months and should be refused because of the loss of the town's amenities and heritage."

Town councillors objected to the application on seven key issues, including overcrowding, increased street parking, anti-social behaviour and loss of amenity to neighbouring residents.

The Nags Head is currently being marketed for sale for offers in the region of £175,000.

It was one of Crewe's oldest pubs and, according to local historian and former councillor Howard Curran, writing in 'Crewe Pubs' (2004), its upstairs accommodation was home to a boxing club from which some of Crewe's prized fighters emerged.