A ROW over the future of a village pub in Ryedale is set to continue after its owners made another bid to turn part of the site into housing.

Ryedale District Council rejected proposals for the School House Inn in Low Marishes, near Malton – which closed in 2009 – to be converted into a four-bedroom home last month, the latest development in a planning wrangle stretching back several years.

Its owners, Matthew and Sarah Richardson, were given permission to turn the building into a three-bedroom home alongside five holiday letting rooms and a smaller pub last year, but no bids to run the pub were received. They have appealed against the council’s decision to refuse permission for the main building to become a house.

Their new application is seeking permission for outbuildings on the site to be turned into a two-bedroom house and a two-bedroom bungalow, with a statement sent to the council said the building was not viable as a business and the housing scheme would improve its appearance.

A group of local residents have supported plans for the pub to be registered as a community asset under the Localism Act, saying they believed it has a future as a business and wanted the opportunity to buy it at a “realistic price”.