A hotel and flats to be built on the site of the BBC's former HQ have been described as an asset to the West End.

A hotel and flats to be built on the site of the BBC's former HQ have been described as an asset to the West End.

Glasgow planners have approved a scheme to build an 85-bedroom four or five-star hotel, 180 flats and three townhouses on the site in Queen Margaret Drive.

The hotel will incorporate a "gem" of a Charles Rennie Mackintosh building, which was part of the old BBC development, and a bar that can hold up to 400 people.

More than 60 residents wrote to the city council demanding the application be turned down, insisting the West End is already saturated with pubs, clubs and other nightspots.

They were also worried the hotel and flats would create increased traffic problems in the area.

But senior planner Ken Clark told councillors: "What we had with the BBC was a very highly concentrated industrial development which had a lot of traffic.

"The traffic will be less with this residential development than it was with the BBC."

Queen Margaret Drive is in a conservation area and planning policy says any new development must respect its surroundings.

Planning convener George Redmond said: "I am sure this development will enhance the quality of life for people in the West End."

Hillhead councillor George Roberts disagreed with the verdict and said after the meeting: "I don't think local people had a fair hearing."