Plans for more than 600 new homes on a former Debenhams site in Southampton have been recommended to the local council. 

The store which closed last year is the subject of plans to build a total of 607 homes. 

Under the proposed scheme by Southampton Estates Ltd, three new blocks would be erected comprising of seven to 17 storeys, with two commercial premises also planned for the ground floor. 

Of the 607 new properties, 598 of them would be apartments, with the further nine becoming townhouses. 

Councillors have been advised to back the scheme, stating that the plans should be delegated to the head of planning and economic development to approve. 

Approval would be subject to several other agreements including a bat emergence survey, a highway condition survey and environmental considerations.