Plans for a home near Ipswich railway station to be converted into an house of multiple occupancy (HMO) have been refused by the council.

The house, situated on the corner between Willoughby Road and Burrell Road, will not become an HMO after Ipswich Borough Council refused the plans.

The plans were submitted in May for the house to become a nine-bed HMO.

These plans raised concerns, however, with Suffolk police stating there were 139 reported incidents over one year within the vicinity.

Police did state that they did not object to the application but they did recommend measures were put in place to reduce the risk of crime.

They recommended that a CCTV system be put in place with warning signs to help manage the crime in the area.

Ipswich Borough Council's planning committee has now refused these plans, with a number of reasons listed.

One being that two HMOs can not be placed side by side, and the back of the house goes on to another.

In Burrell Road there are already 12 HMOs, with all of these being on the south side of the road, like the application site is.

The council said that therefore the proposal "does not satisfy because it is in a location where there is already a concentration of HMOs".

The kitchen and dining room, which would be situated in the basement where there is an existing workshop, would not have any windows, which would result in a "substandard form of accommodation".

There were also concerns about the useable space at the rear of the property and the property not being a sufficient enough size to accommodate the number of people who would live in the HMO.