A FORMER pub is set to be converted into housing after planning permission was granted.

The Angel, on the junction of Angel Street and High Street, Bolton-upon-Dearne, has been the subject of an application to build eight properties - four three-bed houses, one three-bed bungalow and one two-bed bungalow, as well as converting the pub into two three-bed houses - since the start of this year.

In that time the pub was repeatedly targeted by vandals, with a spate of three fires in five days in April. Security had to be tightened while a decision was made.

While concerns have been raised over the loss of yet another pub in the Dearne as well as parking, loss of outlook for neighbouring properties and the moving of bus stops, the plans received approval this week.

“In the Dearne, we’ve got one derelict pub at the top of Goldthorpe that’s caused us absolute nightmares in terms of anti-social behaviour, we’ve got another in Goldthorpe across from the police station that cost a lot of resources again,” said Dearne South Coun May Noble as she welcomed the plans.

“Not only that but as you drive into Bolton-on-Dearne, which is a lovely village, you’re looking at a pub that is falling into disrepair. The problem with today’s society is that people do not go out into public houses in the way their parents and grandparents did, and if we don’t use a business then we lose it.”

MP for Wentworth and Dearne John Healey also welcomed the development. “Pubs are at the heart of our communities and are so much more than a place to have a pint,” he said.

“But they’re under threat and need our support.

“We need a national review of local pubs to look at the causes for their decline, as well as a taskforce on how to make them sustainable.”