PLANS to partially demolish the Horseshoe Inn at Brooms Green and build an extension for a bed and breakfast operation have been withdrawn.

The move has been welcomed by local people and the Campaign for Real Ale, which has been battling to get the premises re-opened as a pub.

Forest of Dean District Council was set to make a decision on a planning application from Jackie Tweedale on Tuesday until she withdrew it, stating that it had been scuppered by objections.

Some 148 letters of objection were received by the council and 54 letters in support.

Part of Mrs Tweedale's application was to keep a small bar open for public use and she said: "The pubs that survive diversify and that is what I have attempted to do here. I really felt that a combined tourist and community facility was a good way forward. We don't plan to leave and we will be seeking other solutions."

Enforcement action by the council could follow in relation to the change of use of the pub to residential use.

Mark Haslam, of Hereford-shire CAMRA, said: "We are not surprised that the applicant has withdrawn this.

"They stated in their application that the Horseshoe Inn was not viable, then expected the planning committee to believe that a licensed bar only using a third of the pub's former drinking area could then be viable in the future."

Planning officers were recommending refusal of the application on the grounds that its location was outside a recognised settlement area and did not involve the re-use of existing B&B facilities.

Officers also felt the development would lead to increased traffic on a substandard road.

Penny Ely, chairman of the Horseshoe Inn Companions, which is battling to get the pub re-opened, said: "People should look closely at the reasons for recommending refusal. They are based purely on district council planning policy."