Permission to change an award-winning village pub and restaurant into a five-bedroom house has been refused.

The DuCane Arms, in Tiptree Road, Great Braxted, closed last December after feeling the effects of dwindling trade, despite the efforts of Jonathan Brown, who took it on after previously working with Raymond Blanc, Marco Pierre White and John Burton Race.

Maldon district councillors decided against transforming the empty building into a house at a planning committee meeting on Monday, after current freehold owners Barking Dogs applied for planning permission.

Permission was also sought for an extension and detached garage.

See this week's MBS for the full story.