A new block of apartments on the banks of a photogenic canal has been given the planning green light – but the flats can never be used for Airbnb-style short lets.

Proposals submitted to Liverpool’s Labour-controlled council to construct 70 new flats on the banks of the Leeds-Liverpool Canal have been approved but the local authority placed a ban on the flats being used for short-term holiday use.

The Liverpool Echo website and newspaper report that plans put forward by Elavace Estates Number 3 Ltd sought to redevelop long-term empty land to provide two new blocks four and six storeys high with dozens of new apartments.

Councillors appeared to express concern that the flats – along with a new stadium nearby for Everton – would encourage greater traffic and, in the case of the residential units, possibly be used as short term lets.

The Echo reports that council officers told elected members that there was “nothing to suggest” the properties would be used for anything other than for long term residential purposes.