PLANS have been revealed for a new eye hospital in Bolton town centre.

The council has received an application from SpaMedica — a leading medical and surgical eye service provider — to bring the hospital into the former six-storey Travel Counsellors building in Churchgate.

If approved, SpaMedica will take over the ground, first, third and fourth floors of the building which became vacant after Travel Counsellors moved their headquarters to Manchester.

It is proposed that the ground floor would be used to treat private patients and NHS patients would use the first floor.

The third and fourth floors of the building would be used as a consultation clinic and the remaining areas of the building will continue to be used as office space, either by SpaMedica or let to other companies by the firm.

The building in question, Travel House, was occupied by Travel Counsellors for 15 years before it moved to a new state-of-the-art building in Trafford Quays earlier this year.

SpaMedica pitches itself as a 'trusted partner' of choice for the NHS as well as 'hundreds' of opticians throughout the North West. The firm offers a wide range of treatments that aim to help improve vision and eye health — including cataract surgery, sight correction and work for patients with conditions such as Glaucoma.

The firm has its headquarters based in Castlefield in Manchester but also has facilities in Liverpool, Wirral and Newton-Le-Willows.

Speaking about the application, a spokesman for the firm said: “The proposed development fully complies with the development plan for the area. It will perform a positive economic, social and environmental role and comprises sustainable development — as a result there is a presumption in favour of granting the application proposals.”

The Travel House building is technically located within the Churchgate Conservation Area of the town centre, but the firm has said that no alterations will be made to the outside of the building and said the change of use will have 'no impact on the significance of the heritage asset.'

The plans will now be analysed by the council’s planning department and are likely to come before the authority’s planning committee where a decision on whether to grant them or not will be made.