The government-linked company Serco was granted permission last week to turn the former office and a beauty training facility opposite Lowestoft bus station into housing for asylum seekers and vulnerable people.

But after East Suffolk Council approved a bid last Wednesday to convert the property into a house of multiple occupancy (HMO) for asylum seekers, it has now emerged the contractor will no longer press ahead with plans for the property, which has been empty since May last year.

Last week, this newspaper revealed that change of use plans - which were submitted to East Suffolk Council in February - had been given the green light to convert the property at 22 Gordon Road in Lowestoft into an eight-bedroom HMO.

It would cater for "a maximum of eight individuals, to be operated by a management company under contract with UKVI."

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