A village hall described as a "dreadful eyesore" looks set to be left sat empty after council planners refused to give it a new use.

JBC Property Developments had asked Warwick District Council to acknowledge the Meadows Hut in Stoneleigh is no longer designated for community use - the latest in a decade-long saga around the building.

The application said the building has been vacant since 2013, and claimed the past three owners have all tried to find a new use for it, as the timber structure is no longer suitable for public use.

But council planners were not satisfied the building could not be returned to community use.

"An addendum to the structural report considered as part of application stated that the building could be re-purposed for a community use, but further adds that the cost of the requirements would outweigh the viability of such an exercise," a council report said.

"As noted...whilst the building is considered to be in a poor state, officers consider in line with the addendum that the building could be re-purposed and made good for a community use."

The hut is said to be in a poor state (image via planning application)

In its application JBC said there are "clear structural issues" meaning any "reasonable person" would say the building has "reached the end of its lifespan".

It said the building was sold in 2010 by the Meadows Society - a charity set up to preserve the local area - and has not been used by the community since, having temporarily been used as an art studio until 2013.

Previous plans to demolish the hut to make way for a house were refused and others withdrawn.

Submitted as supporting evidence, a comment from a previous application said: "With the hut nearly derelict and the site overgrown, the property is little more than a dreadful eyesore."

The council report added: "The applicant states that one could argue that the community use was abandoned through actions e.g the art studio and weekend retreat referenced above.

"However officers consider such uses were too infrequent for there to have been another use.

"Furthermore, these would have been breaches of planning control.

"Therefore, whilst the hut may have been used on a temporary basis without the necessary planning permission, this does not result in the use as a community use being abandoned."

See the full application here.