PLANS for up to 265 retirement homes on a former industrial site in Great Alne have been lodged with Stratford District Council.

The application would turn the former Rockwell Maudslay site into a retirement village with a warden and community facilities, as well as space for start-up businesses on the development.

There has been much controversy over the site in the past, with motor enthusiasts attempting to buy the land and surviving works.

The Castle Maudslay Preservation Group was willing to pay up to £4 million for the land and works, which they hoped to turn into a motor heritage centre.

But their hopes were dashed when Retirement Villages Plc, later to become Maudslay Park Ltd, stepped in and made an offer on the land.

Last year Bill Gair, from Maudslay Park Ltd, appeared at the Stratford Local Plan inquiry. He told the inspector the site would take between 150 and 170 housing units.