Construction of a shop and 18 affordable apartments on a former hospital site has been given to go ahead.

The London Colney scheme was approved at a south committee planning meeting on Monday night.

Michael Rubinow applied to build a retail unit and 18 self-contained flats on an area which previously housed Napsbury Church, which has since been demolished in the grounds of the former Napsbury Hospital.

Three-metre-high boarded fencing has been on the boundaries of the site for a while.

The plan was called in by Councillor Katherine Gardner for a committee decision as there have been concerns about a possible over-development of the Green Belt area, located on Goldring Way.

London Colney parish council were worried the plan may lead to the closure of the Post Office in the village if one was proposed for the retail building.

Officers said, on balance, the community benefit of 100 per cent affordable housing outweighed the impact on the openness of the Green Belt.