Plans to turn an empty Rainham pub into offices have been rejected because they would "result in the loss of a community facility". 

Applicant MK9 Investments had hoped to turn the ground floor of The New Angel Inn, in the Broadway, into office space. 

The company’s agent, Design Ghar, outlined in planning documents how three offices and a meeting room were to be built, with an estimated eight employees able to work from the site. 

But in a recently-published decision notice, council officers have rejected the application due to the impact it would have on The New Angel Inn. 

In the notice, officers state the application does not “clearly demonstrate that the existing public house is not viable”, and so it would “result in the loss of a public house and a community facility”. 

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Other reasons given include that the proposed three car parking spaces would reduce the size of the pub’s garden and own car parking provision, in addition to affecting the landscaping of the site, and so harming the Grade II listed building’s setting. 

Design Ghar was approached for comment. 

View the application on Havering Council’s online planning portal using the reference P1705.22.