FARMERS in the Malvern area are taking to heart the Government's message to diversify, if a trio of recent planning applications is anything to go by.

In the wake of foot and mouth, farmers are being encourage to improve rural sustainability by using farm buildings for holiday accommodation.

Malvern Hills District Council's planning department received three such applications last week.

At Mayall Farm in Watery Lane, Malvern, farmer Alan Hughes is seeking permission to convert and extend a brick outbuilding into a two-bedroom holiday unit.

Mr Hughes said that the building had not been used for a long time and he and his wife were hoping to boost their income by converting it into accommodation, alongside another similar rental building on their property.

In Hanley Castle, sisters Miss Rosemary Boaz and Mrs Andrea Candlish want to restore and convert an old barn on the verge of collapse on their father's farm into a one bedroomed holiday unit.

At Bank Farm, a smallholding in Croft Bank, West Malvern, owners Franklyn Ltd are seeking to convert a cow barn and stables into a two-bedroomed holiday unit.

Franklyn's agent Allister Smith, of Worcester-based Chartered Surveyors Elrick Smith, said Malvern Hills District Council was now looking at conversions into holiday accommodation more favourably.

The council's senior assistant area planning officer, Duncan Rudge, said: "It's dependent largely on the building and what it's best suited to."

However, Mr Rudge said new homes outside areas specifically allocated in the local plan were being discouraged in order to keep down the volume of commuting traffic on rural roads.

He said: "We look first at commercial proposals, light industrial uses which help the district in terms of employment opportunities. Then we look at tourism uses and then residential.

"The objective is to make sure that, where possible, we provide people in rural areas with employment opportunities, so that they're not forced to drive to the towns for all their employment needs."

Head of economic development and tourism Sharon Gray said: "Each application is taken on its own merit but there isn't a huge stock of holiday homes in the area. It's certainly a growth area for the market and, in principle, we would look from an economic development and tourism point of view quite favourably at that. There's a need for a balance. Approval of any application will be dependent on the settlement it's in."