A DEVELOPMENT company wants to knock down a row of disused listed buildings in Bearsden and replace them with a modern housing estate.

The A-listed residential blocks sit on a hill on the outskirts of the town and were once used by priests and students at the former St Andrew's College campus.

But most of the site - which houses the newly-built Bearsden Academy - has been empty since 1999.

Now Manchester- based Muse developments plans to demolish the disused buildings and build houses, flats, offices and a care home on the surplus land.

The company said the new scheme at the junction of Duntocher Road and Stockiemuir Road would be "distinctive, safe and pleasant".

Regional director Stephen Turner said the listed buildings - built in 1969 and originally used for student accommodation - had "outlived their usefulness".

He added: "They are certainly not usable and have grown old. They are structures we could not re-used in our plans and we have now asked for a demolition order.

"We have been through various options for these buildings and have had discussions with Historic Scotland about the reasons for listing them."

Mr Turner claimed both Historic Scotland and East Dunbartonshire Council had accepted the company's reasons for wanting to knock them down.

He added: "It's one of the few occasions where no-one can tell us why they were listed in the first place. They really stand out because they are on the hillside and they are not loved by anyone in the area.

"It would be better to have a nice sensitive design scheme like the one we are proposing than have these things on the hillside."

East Dunbartonshire Council this week deferred a decision until a site visit by councillors.

The buildings were designed in the late 1960s by Glasgow architectural firm Gillespie, Kidd & Coia.

In 2003, a plan to demolish them was opposed by a local campaign group called Save the Campus which wanted it to be used for educational purposes.

The Muse plans would see the buildings on the hillside replaced by 60 detached homes with private gardens.

There would be three 20-flat blocks, two on the hillside and one at the bottom of the site.

Two office blocks - each 2500sq ft and with two storeys - would be built at the bottom of the hill. And plans have also been lodged for a 60-bed care home.

Historic Scotland said the student accommodation had been listed because of the "cubic" design of the blocks.