A fresh effort to breathe life into a boarded-up pub has been launched.

The Ferry Boat Inn, in Norwich, used to be a key rock music venue, but it has been vacant since 2006.

A bid to turn it into a hostel for backpackers was abandoned, and planning councillors last year rejected a bid to build 43 apartments there, stating plans were not sensitive to the conservation area.

Developers went back to the drawing board and have now lodged a scaled back application, hoping that this will allay concerns.

The original application proposed 43 apartments and a seven-storey tower; this has been reduced to 41 dwellings and a five-storey tower.

Developers Ferry Boat Developments LLP paid more than £500,000 for the King Street site. A statement on behalf of the applicants said the new vision represented the outcome of a 'process of refinement' following extensive consultation.

David Eve, of Historic England, said previous concerns chiefly involved the scale of the tower on the King Street side of the site.

He said that the proposed reduction in height was a 'significant improvement' and would not wish to oppose the application in principle.

Lucie Carayon, of the Ancient Monuments Society, said: 'The site is of great significance and we are very concerned that important historic fabric may be lost as a result of the conversion works.'

Norwich City Council's planning committee will decide the fate of the planning application for the Grade II listed building later this month.

Do you have a Norwich story? Email samuel.russell@archant.co.uk