A £13 million plan has been unveiled to complete the restoration of a former psychiatric hospital.

Robertson Homes wants to create 26 luxury townhouses and 30 executive apartments in Inverness's Gleann Mor House, which used to house the Craig Dunain Hospital.

The proposal, submitted to Highland Council, would create over 100 local jobs. The company says it is keen to recruit a variety of skills for what is billed as one of the most complex in the Highland capital's recent history.

The proposal for the listed Victorian building was submitted just days after another Robertson Homes application to build 50 new homes at nearby Westercraigs.

If approved, work will start on both projects, which together amount to an investment of £20m, next year, with the first people moving in to the newly developed homes in 2017.

There had been local criticism the company was pressing ahead with the new homes before finishing work on the old hospital building.

But John Murphy, managing director of Robertson Homes, said: “We are really pleased to submit these proposals. Built in 1864 Gleann Mor House is an historic building that was badly damaged by fire in 2009.

“The luxury homes in Gleann Mor House, with an abundance of bay windows, turrets and a raft of unique features, will offer something new in the Inverness market and will complement the modern, spacious family homes we hope to build in and around Ruihard House."

The first phase of the restoration of Gleann Mor House, 12 luxury apartments, was completed in 2011. Robertson Homes has since reconfigured its plans to replace many of the apartments with townhouses, maximising open space and landscaped gardens.