An "eyesore" derelict pub near Leek could finally be pulled down to make way for a farm shop and restaurant.

The New Inn at Longsdon has been closed for more than a decade and the state of building has sparked several complaints over the past few years from residents.

But now plans have come forward to bulldoze the old boozer and build a farm shop and restaurant on the land next to the A53 Leek Road. Upperdales Developers Ltd have submitted a planning application to Staffordshire Moorlands District Council.

Leek resident Tom Burnett said it was "about time" that something was done about the "eyesore". He added: "Sitting on the A53 and slowly decaying, it is hardly an inspiring advert for the area.

"It has been vacant for more than a decade now. In an ideal world I'd love to see it reopen as a pub, but I can't see it happening.

Plans have been submitted to transform the abandoned pub into a farm shop and restaurant (Google).

"By the same token, I can't see it being viable to turn into homes or flats either – the fate of a lot of pubs – it just looks too far gone. I never like to say this about a pub but I can't really see an option for it beyond knocking it down and building some houses there or something."

In a letter to Upperdales Developers Ltd director Martin Pointon, Longsdon Parish Council clerk John Bourne said: "Over many years the parish council has received a multitude of complaints from parishioners about the building. If a proposal was put forward to demolish the old New Inn building and be replaced by a small development of, say, a maximum of four houses on the site it would be received favourably as this sort of scheme would rid the site of all its unsavoury characteristics and could certainly improve visibility at the junction of Leek Road and Denford Road."

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