A new bed and breakfast venture at a community pub has been given the go ahead.
The upstairs area of The Maids Head in Spixworth Road, Old Catton, will be transformed from a flat into three bedrooms complete with en suite bathrooms.
Stonegate owns the pub and gave permission for the licensee Steve Carrigan to pursue the new alterations.
Mr Carrigan said: "I am very pleased to see the plans get approval. I applied nearly a year ago but these things take time, especially with Covid.
"We will need to start from scratch. It will be a bit of a project to create the three new en suites but I hope to get it up and running within three months - certainly by the summer."
The licensee said the decision to introduce a B&B option was nothing to do with Covid and that he had been keen to adapt the pub for a long time.
He currently lives with his partner Leanne Burgess above the community pub but stated there is plenty of room for guests to reside upstairs.
Mr Carrigan said: "There is an airport nearby and a business estate around the corner so there are a lot of workers who use B&Bs.
"There is a shortage of B&Bs in the area so I am quite looking forward to getting it going."
The Maids Head dates back to the mid-nineteenth century and is located next to a row of homes in the centre of the village which includes a smattering of home-based businesses.
Mr Carrigan took on the pub in 2006.
He intends to convert three rooms - two bedrooms and a former lounge - into new suites, as well as retaining a fourth bedroom and study for personal use.
The bathrooms would be identical for each room with a toilet, basin and a sliding door shower.
Access to the B&B would be provided via the existing access to the flat above the pub.
Norfolk County Council's highways had no objection to the plans given the "acceptable levels of on-site car parking" at the location.
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