A stalemate over footpaths has caused plans to demolish a £1.2m country house in favour of a care home to stall.

Lester Broome had applied to Broadland District Council to demolish Hill House, a luxurious eight-bedroom home in Drayton and replace it with a 56-bed care home.

However, a row over footpath provisions to the site have seen Mr Broome and his planners sent back to the drawing board over pedestrian access to the home.

As it stands, the site sits at the end of Hall Lane in Drayton, with no footpath connecting it to the rest of the village.

After being told by Norfolk County Council's highways department that putting in a new roadside footpath would be 'impractical' other proposals were made.

These included a shuttle bus service linking to take residents into the village and taxi services for the staff.

But these were not enough to convince Broadland's planning committee to approve the plans, which instead voted to defer its decision until a solution can be found.

Tony Adams, Conservative councillor for Hellesdon south east, said: 'I would love to support this as I think it is a great idea and a lot of work has gone into it - however, it is the right idea in the wrong place.

'I know this road well and it is a dangerous - so much so that three chicanes had to be added to it, so I can not support it without a footpath included.'

During the meeting, Broadland officers admitted erroneously including in a prior report that no accidents had been reported on Hall Lane - when in fact some had occurred.

Claudette Bannock, Conservative councillor for Taverham south, asked how many collisions had occurred on the road and said she recalled that one was fatal. However, officers were unable to provide exact numbers.

Mr Broome said: 'The application has not been refused so I am looking forward to working with the council in considered way and will investigate any suggestion that is made.'

Les Gray, a neighbour to the site who spoke against the plans, said after 'We just can not have it without a footpath.'