PLANS to turn a village pub into three homes have been approved by a Government inspector who overturned Wiltshire Council's decision to refuse the project.

Developers Bentley Slade can now push ahead with turning The Drummer Boy in Market Lavington into three homes.

The parish council and a number of people living in the village had objected to the proposal for two homes with three bedrooms and another with two bedrooms.

But after the visiting the site inspector Jane Miles said the project could go ahead but imposed a number of conditions to do with layout and building materials.

In her report Ms Miles said: "The current appeal scheme follows a previous scheme which in addition to converting the existing public house into two dwellings proposed two new dwellings to the rear.

"The main issues in an unsuccessful appeal against the council’s refusal of that previous scheme concerned its effects on the character

and appearance of the Market Lavington Conservation Area and the adequacy of the proposed garden areas."

But she said Wiltshire's reasons for turning down the latest plan only related to access and highway concerns and so her issue for the appeal had to be about road safety as a parking area at the back of the pub is reached through a narrow arch which restricts visibility.

She said this meant that access to the area which would become parking for the new houses was not ideal. But she said: "Even so, in assessing the appeal proposals it is relevant that the possibility of the pub premises being brought back into use for this or other commercial uses cannot be ruled out, even if that appears unlikely at present."

This could lead to even more vehicles using the difficult access than would be created by people living in three homes. She dismissed evidence given by the parish council that the majority of spaces were not used when the pub was open and pointed to the fact that the parish council was not against two homes being built rather than three.

She said: "I find it very unlikely that a total of three dwellings rather than two would have significantly greater implications for use of the access and highway safety."

She also did not think the new homes would result in an unacceptable impact on neighbouring houses.

She concluded: "Neither these nor any other matters raised are so significant as to alter my conclusions on the main issue and overall therefore I conclude the appeal should succeed and planning permission should be granted subject to conditions."

When Wiltshire Council discussed the plan councillor Richard Gamble, who represents the village, said that the proposal would bring an old building back into use and the design was of an acceptable standard, but the one fundamental issue of access for vehicles was unsatisfactory and dangerous.