Plans to convert a derelict pub into a convenience store and drive-thru coffee shop have been refused. 

The Fox in Little Wratting, near Haverhill, has been empty for more than a decade despite many applications to transform the site. 

Original plans to turn it into a Harvester or Toby Carvery-style pub were approved by West Suffolk Council in 2021 but two years later the pub went up for sale again with Savills. 

New plans were submitted earlier this year under which the pub would be converted into an Asda convenience store and drive-thru coffee shop. 

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The proposed plans include "the demolition of existing redundant public house building and construction of new convenience store and coffee shop drive-thru, plus necessary parking".

West Suffolk Council has refused the planning application in order to "protect town centres and local centres within the district".

The decision notice also said the plans were a "cramped and contrived scheme pinching site boundaries" and had a lack of information submitted in relation to noise activities and the impact on local residents.