A man has vowed to open a sex shop if he is not allowed to turn a former village post office into a house.Andrew Hennessey, who owns the former post office at 423 Gisburn Road, has been battling to convert it into a house after it closed in November 2005.
He was initially denied planning permission in January when councillors called for proof that the shop could not be viably run as a business.
In his latest application, which will go before Pendle Council's Barrowford and Western Parishes Committee on Thursday, he has included accounts which show that the post office made a net loss of more than £17,500 in its last two years of trading.
But planning officers are still recommending it for refusal as the borough has fulfilled its housing provision requirements until 2016, and as the shop does not meet the criteria for an exception to the policy because it is in open countryside.
The shop has been painted black since October, with "XXXX" painted on the front, to suggest it is already a sex shop, in a protest against the planning process.
After his application was denied last time, Mr Hennessey vowed to open the building as a novelty-style sex shop if his hopes for a cottage could not be realised.
As the premise is already allowed to be a shop, Mr Hennessey believes he would be able to sell the items without needing any special permission.
In response to being recommen-ded for refusal again, he said: "I am surprised as I was told I would be supported and it would go through if I supplied these accounts. They can either have a house or a boarded-up shop."
Councillors could still approve the house.
Source: http://www.lancashireeveningtelegraph.co.uk
