A bid to turn a former funeral directors in Warwick into a two-bed house has been thrown out by district planners.

The St John's unit has reportedly been empty since 2018, and was given permission to be turned into a salon in 2021 but the scheme never went ahead.

And now Warwick District Council (WDC) has refused to grant planning permission for it to be turned into a home, despite the application saying there is no viable commercial future for a business there.

"The development is considered to represent an unsustainable form of development and it is therefore recommended that planning permission is refused," a council report said.

Planners said the development would "result in the loss of a retail use" in the town centre, and the proposed house would have an "unacceptable level of amenity for future occupiers".

The project would have seen the downstairs turned into a kitchen and sitting room, meanwhile the staircase would have been moved.

Plans show a single-storey extension to the rear would also be removed to make space for a small courtyard.

The application explained: "The applicant intended to use the property for a beauty salon, however the level of internal works required to enable this change of use and to bring the property back into a reasonable state of repair, have prevented this proposed use on viability grounds. 

"The existing building needs significant repairs and modernisation and the potential yield from a beauty salon in this location would not be sufficient to enable this to be a viable use of the building. 

"The premises therefore remains vacant, as it has since 2018." 

See the full planning application here.