A York pub is pressing ahead with plans for four holiday ‘letting rooms’ in a former bookies on the premises after they were recently refused.

The Clockhouse first applied to City of York Council to make the changes at the pub on Kingsway West, Acomb, earlier this summer, blaming pandemic-related lockdowns for driving the move.

“There is not the demand to sustain the Pub at its current capacity hence the proposal to partition an area off to create an area for letting rooms to provide increased diversification within the business and ensure its success and viability,” the application said.

The resubmitted plans say four letting rooms would be created in the former bookies and four more letting rooms would be created in a partitioned off area of the pub. Six windows would be installed to give the rooms lighting and ventilation. Parking would increase on the site from 16 to 25.

However, council planning staff in August rejected the application, saying the previous plans had ‘inadequate’ parking, with insufficient space for delivery or refuse vehicles to enter safely.

After the refusal, the pub posted on Facebook: “We have had our plans refused on a few minor factors about deliveries in the car park but we are adjusting our plans and resubmitting them on advice from the council.”