THE construction of another block of flats has begun in Portishead’s High Street.

Contractors for Churchill Retirement Living have begun work on a 58-apartment complex at the Grange Farm site behind White Cot Stores.

The apartments, which will provide sheltered accommodation for elderly people, will be accessed from St Peters Road. The complex will include car parking spaces for residents and some communal facilities.

Planning permission for the development was granted last year, despite fierce opposition from residents desperately trying to protect the town’s heritage.

Much of the site, which comprised of barns, a farmhouse and grazing land, will be consumed by two and three-storey buildings. The barns have been demolished, but the farmhouse remains and will be renovated and incorporated into the development.

Plans are also under way for the development of another High Street farm, but on a much smaller scale. The owners of Court Farm in the centre of the High Street want to convert a barn into a four bedroom home.

Court Farm is one of Portishead’s much loved-landmarks which includes a Grade II-listed farmhouse, outbuildings and agricultural land. It was sold in 2010 after campaigners failed to secure the farm as a heritage centre, after making a bid of �500,000.