An orthopaedic clinic is set to replace a set of vacant offices in Wimbledon.

Merton Council’s planning committee gave the go-ahead for Central House in Alwyne Road to become a health clinic on Thursday (June 28).

From outside there will be no changes to the building, the application states.

Inside there is set to be a reception area on the ground floor at the front of the building, with a waiting area and consultation rooms on the mezzanine level.

There will be consultation rooms on the first and second floors with administration offices on the third floor.

There is already a 10-space basement car park, which will be used by staff.

The application, which states the offices have been empty since 2014, was submitted by Coldunell Limited in March and recieved 15 letters of objection.

Concerns included an increase in traffic and more people parking in the street.

A number of objections said there was the chance radiation could leak from an X-ray machine, with one commenter proposing lead lining on the walls of the X-ray room.

But a statement attributed to the tenant’s director of radiology said: “The only radiation we deal with is electromagnetic radiation – we don’t have any radioactive material on site.

“Our X-ray rooms are always shielded so any scatter radiation is attenuated and therefore contained within the room – we monitor the doses outside the room to ensure this.”

The applicant anticipates the clinic would employ at least 20 ‘full time equivalent’ staff including reception, nursing, and administration roles, as well as nine consultants at any one time.

The proposal said: “This site is in an ideal location for the potential tenant due to the location of their existing offices in central London and the need to expand into south-west London.

“There are several consultants that are also located in this area so this unit could be ideal.”