PLANNERS have ruled that a landmark pub which has been closed and boarded up cannot be converted into housing.

The outline planning application to turn the Bay Horse Inn at Burnt Yates into a housing scheme was refused by Ripon area planning committee of Harrogate Borough Council.

A report from planning officer Jill North said that since the application was first submitted, the inn had ceased trading and had been stripped of all its fixtures and fittings.

Miss North recommended refusal after taking legal advice and consulting latest planning policies aimed at protecting community facilities.

Twenty-four letters were presented objecting to the proposal, raising a number of issues, chiefly loss of a significant commuinity focal point and tourist facility.

Recommending refusal, Miss North said the scheme would harm the prospects for maintaining a viable and sustainable rural community.