A VILLAGE pub is to be turned into flats in controversial proposals which have prompted concerns over traffic hazards.

The St Cuthbert's Inn at Uckerby, near Scorton, Richmond, would be converted into four flats under the plans.

The landlords already have permission to turn the pub into a single house, but the move to create four flats has provoked objections from villagers.

Villagers raised concerns about traffic, possible obstruction of rights of way, and the possible effect on parking for buses and the mobile library.

Richmondshire District Council planning officer Beverly Booth said the landlord had suggested that four flats would create less traffic problems than the pub.

But she said villagers' concerns had been passed on to North Yorkshire County Council, the highways authority, and the district council was waiting for their comments