Plans revealed to bring 'eyesore' pub back to life in picturesque Lancashire village Chipping

The derelict Talbot Hotel in Chipping, which has stood empty since 2004, will be converted into five homes if new plans are passed by Ribble Valley Council.

Applicants The Talbot at Chipping Ltd want to demolish part of the Grade II Listed inn and turn it into a six-bedroom house, with a two-bed holiday let in its adjacent former coach-house.

Three more homes will be created by renovating the pub's ancient barn next door.

And the plans appear to have the support of Chipping villagers who feel the two buildings have been an ugly scar in the centre of one of Lancashire's quaintest hamlets since the pub shut its doors.

A planning report to the council says: "Given that the site has remained vacant and in an unkempt state for an extended period of time, securing a viable use within the buildings would offer significant environmental benefits for the community together with the general visual amenity of the village."

One villager said the buildings should be converted so it could become “a better asset to the village instead of the eyesore it has become over the years."

Another added: "Being a pub again is probably commercially and financially unviable. I feel that something needs to be done with the Talbot, be that as a B&B or a few houses.

"Currently it’s a blot on the picturesque village."

In the planning report, consultants say conversion of the pub to residential “is the only logical alternative when its recent history is taken into account.

"No viable commercial uses have been secured for the barn up to now and that unfortunate position will likely remain indefinitely."

The Talbot could date back to 1739. It was originally known as the Dog Inn, then it became the Talbot Inn and then the Talbot Hotel in the 1880s.

Plans to refurbish the pub to create a bistro restaurant with function suite were approved in January 2013, but the scheme never went ahead.

The latest application asks permission to demolish a 19th century flat roofed section and a 20th century pitched roof addition at the rear to create extra parking for the new homes.

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