A PLANNING application has been submitted to Northumberland County Council which, if approved, would see a Tyne Valley pub converted into three flats.

Applicant Paul Bowes, of the Black Bull Inn, Main Road, Wylam, is seeking the change of use from a public house at ground floor level and seven guest bedrooms at first floor level to a ground floor self-contained two-bedroom apartment and two two-bedroom self-contained apartments to the first floor.

The proposed development could also see the creation of six cycle spaces and three car parking spaces for the residential properties.

A supporting comment made by a member of the public described the proposed works as a "benefit to the village as a whole", providing housing and boosting local trade.

It also said that the village currently already supports four pubs - The Boathouse, The Ship Inn, The Fox and Hounds and the Black Bull Inn - all of whom are trading under difficult conditions and that, in their view, the change of use would help the others to survive. It also raised concerns about the pub's prominent location in the village with issues of noise and anti-social behaviour "naturally occurring" - though through no fault of the license.

The pub, formerly a grocers, and latterly an abattoir, has been a mainstay in the village for over 100 years and recently was refurbished.