A planning inspector has dismissed an appeal to turn a derelict barn into a block of stables.

Warwick District Council (WDC) threw out plans to rebuild the collapsed Hammonds Barn near Kenilworth Castle last year, saying the scheme was inappropriate in the green belt.

The owners then appealed the decision for the Purlieu Lane site, saying the council's reasons "make little sense".

WDC's planners were criticised for taking so long on the decision - which came some seven months after the original target date of July 2022.

The appeal also said the council has granted permission for similar stables on the same lane and says the stables would be built out of brick "as Historic England agreed this may be preferable".

But WDC's decision has been upheld by the planning inspectorate which said the development would "result in a loss of openness to the green belt".

"The proposed stable building would add considerable bulk and mass to the appeal site and would appear wider and disproportionate to the more modest scale of the previously approved building it would be sited next to," the inspector's report said.

"Furthermore, due to the land level changes, the proposal in this location would be highly visible from the nearby public vantage points, including the adjacent public footpath.

"Given its close proximity to Kenilworth Castle, it would appear dominant and visually obtrusive within the landscape, interrupting public views of the castle and its grounds."

The proposal near Kenilworth Castle also received a number of objections, including ones from Kenilworth Town Council and Historic England.

See the application here.