Villagers will soon be downing pints again in their local after the go ahead was given to move the community's only pub 200 yards down the road. Last April the Red Lion pub in Upper Sheringham was forced to close after its small size constrained the amount of takings it could rake in because it could not be extended.

Villagers will soon be downing pints again in their local after the go ahead was given to move the community's only pub 200 yards down the road.

Last April the Red Lion pub in Upper Sheringham was forced to close after its small size constrained the amount of takings it could rake in because it could not be extended.

The owners of the Red Lion had hoped to relocate the pub to the nearby bigger Ushers Barns but they had to close the 300-year-old pub before any move took place.

This week the John Ashton's Children's Settlement finally won permission to convert the brick and flint barn and steel silo, in the Street, into a pub with a restaurant and six rooms to let.

North Norfolk District Council approved the move on Thursday despite fears from residents that the pub would eventually become a larger motel-cum-hotel instead.

Concerns were also raised that the new pub's dining area would be 200 pc bigger than the Red Lion's and could lead to unacceptable levels of noise. The plans for 20 car parking spaces and a small public bar at the new pub were also criticised as being inadequate.

The parish council said it did not object to the scheme in principle but wanted the pub's owners to play a full part in the community activities instead of the site merely becoming an 'eating house'.

Permission was granted on the condition that the district council's conservation design manager approved the look of the building and no objections were raised by consultant parties.