A former village pub will be converted into a new home after plans were given the green light by the council.

The Coventry Arms in Worcester Road, Upton Snodsbury, which has been empty since 2017, will be converted into a new home alongside five new homes after plans were backed by Wychavon District Council.

The site has been the subject of several controversial applications in recent years with the approved plan by developer Tricas Construction the fourth to have been submitted since the end of 2019.

Plans put forward earlier this year also included a move to build four more homes on the former pub’s car park but that move was scrapped following talks with the council.

Long-held plans to demolish the former watering hole and build more than a dozen affordable homes on the site have now been scrapped in favour of building five four-bed homes which includes a plan to convert the pub into one of the homes.

Conservation officers at Wychavon District Council had previously raised concerns about the plan to demolish the former pub saying they would prefer to see the building reimagined rather than flattened.

Platform Housing put forward proposals to demolish the Coventry Arms in Upton Snodsbury and build 14 affordable homes at the end of 2019 but the plan was met with opposition from villagers who said the plan “would only bring trouble.”

The application was then redrawn to include 11 homes with the former watering hole demolished and rebuilt as a home matching the style of the pub – which attracted more objections from residents in Upton Snodsbury – and those plans were eventually scrapped in 2021.

The plans were then put back on the table again by Tricas Construction, the developer behind the latest plan, completely scrapping the controversial affordable housing idea in favour of five four-bed homes.

Tricas Construction said it had ditched the plan to build affordable housing in light of an application in nearby Crowle to build 12 homes.

The application was rejected by planners at Wychavon District Council but later overturned by a government inspector following an appeal – despite signification opposition from villagers.