Eastleigh civic chiefs last night unanimously gave the go-ahead for a town centre nightclub to be swept away and replaced with 33 flats.

Besides providing much-needed affordable housing, councillors welcomed the opportunity to put the lid on problems caused by anti-social behaviour outside Breezers.

"Nobody really loves what is there and the way it is being used.

"This will be a mighty shot in the arm for residents of Blenheim House, who have had to put up with the bad behaviour of clubbers," Councillor Glynn Davies-Dear told the borough's Eastleigh Local Area Committee.

Councillor Wayne Irish said residents had had to put up with "lots of noise" late at night and the site was "very scruffy" at the moment.

He added: "I think it will be a gem for us. It will be a benefit and help towards our housing situation."

Breezers, which occupies a prominent site on the corner of Southampton Road and Blenheim Road, will be bulldozed along with a pair of maisonettes fronting Southampton Road.

In place of the mainly

single-storey club will be a "landmark" block of three- and four-storey flats with underground car parking and associated landscaping.

The joint planning application was lodged by Highwood Construction and Winchester Housing Group. Councillors were told by agent Graham Beck that most of the development would provide affordable homes, including rented and shared-ownership, with just a few flats for sale.

He said: "It is a marvellous opportunity to get rid of a potential problem and provide a social facility."

Eastleigh's development control chief Colin Peters told the committee it was one of the highest-density schemes the council had ever considered.