A DEVELOPER who wanted to build a house on part of the land surrounding a village pub on the Shotley Peninsula has been told by planners to think again.

A DEVELOPER who wanted to build a house on part of the land surrounding a village pub on the Shotley Peninsula has been told by planners to think again.

Martin Blake, owner of Ipswich-based companies Winston Hall Ltd and Merchant Projects, put in an offer to buy the Baker's Arms, Harkstead, in January this year.

If the deal went ahead, he suggested that he would be willing to sell the pub and its car park to its current landlords, Kevin Dale and Maggie Bennett, provided he could get planning permission to build a house on land behind the pub.

But Harkstead parish council three times rejected designs he submitted and councillors at Babergh District Council's development committee also threw out the application.

The decision, which went against the recommendation of planning officers, was taken after doubts were raised about the pub's future viability.

The village has no shop or post office and is the one remaining meeting place for residents when the village hall is not open.

After a heated debate councillors rejected a compromise suggestion on limiting the grounds of the proposed house to keep the yard with the pub's control and voted an outright refusal of the application.