Plans to reopen the only pub in Winterbourne Monkton have been welcomed after it was shut for more than a year.

Plans to extend and refurbish the bar at the New Inn, which closed in April 2012, and provide extra bed and breakfast accommodation were discussed at Wiltshire Council’s eastern area planning committee on Thursday.

Plans submitted in January proposed to remove the pub but villagers were assured their local would now reopen alongside the B&B.

The applicant’s agent, Patrick Blake-Kerry, said: “All of the objections bar one are about the potential loss of the pub.

“I accompanied the planning officer and council enforcement officer around the newly refurbished public house to confirm that the pub was not only still there but upgraded.

“This pub cannot survive the way it was.

“The accommodation simply does not meet the expectations of the modern tourist.”

The news was welcomed by residents who set up the Save Our New Inn Campaign (SONIC) over fears it would be converted into a house.

Before closing last year, the pub was closed by then owners Sarah Ambrose and Geraldine Ewer in 2007 for 10 months but they kept the B&B running.

Bill Buxton, chairman of Winterbourne Monkton parish council and leader of SONIC, said: “We are a very social village and like to get together. The church and the pub are the only facilities we have so the pub is very important to us.”

A condition was imposed that the B&B should not be bought into use until the pub reopened.

The application was approved unanimously.