A PLANNING application to convert part of a Wellington shop to a flat has been approved by Somerset Council – more than five years after it was submitted.

Acorn Properties (SW) Ltd applied in August, 2020, to be allowed to create a one-bedroom ground floor flat in the former William Hill betting shop in Fore Street, which is now a barber’s.

Planning agent Jonathan Scanlan, of Reed Holland Associates Ltd, said an application was only necessary because the property was in the town’s conservation area.

Mr Scanlan said there had been little interest from anybody wanting to take over the bookmaker’s shop because it was too large, so taking out part of the floorspace for a flat made it smaller and more attractive to rent.