A COUNCIL officer issued a letter of apology to a village parish council after mistakenly saying it supported a planning application.

Under delegated powers, a planning officer at Herefordshire Council approved an application for a proposed accommodation block at the pub called the New Inn in Fownhope.

In the decision report the officer said that the parish council supported the application, when they were in fact against it.

The officer then wrote to the parish council to apologise for the error but said the decision would remain the same, as local residents had raised similar concerns to the parish council, which were addressed.

Objections said the application was against the village's neighbourhood plan in terms of affecting views from the village.

The new accommodation block will have eight rooms to accommodate mountain bikers, walkers and holiday makers. The application is also for an extended car park and new access.