TO the delight of residents of a south Herefordshire hamlet, persistence has paid off for a developer who secured permission to replace a derelict lorry depot with a house.

Previous applications to transform the haulage yard near the Grade II listed Hungerstone House in Hungerstone, Allensmore had twice been refused by Herefordshire Council.

The unused depot is unpopular with some local people who claim juggernauts cause damage to the narrow lanes around Hungerstone.

Thirty people from the hamlet signed a petition supporting the idea for a house.

Developers say the property may be in open countryside, but there is no way of returning the land to rural use after 60 years of heavy mechanical traffic which has resulted in some sections being built up by four feet above ground level.

Permission to build a house was granted by councillors in the face of firm resistance by professional planning officers who said allowing it would go against sustainability - the site is not serviced by public transport - and the policy of discouraging residential development in open countryside.

A planning report said: "The fact that the applicant cannot find an alternative use for the site does not mean that residential development has to be granted for what would otherwise be a site in open countryside."