A HISTORIC grade II-listed pub is to be transformed into short-stay holiday lets with a caravan park and cafe.

The Punch Bowl Inn, near Hurst Green, in the Ribble Valley, ceased operating as a business four years ago and has since been the target for break-ins and vandalism.

But all of that could be about to come to an end as the council have approved plans to transform the site into a holiday site.

The new scheme will see the building and surrounding areas converted into a cafe, five holiday let apartments and 15 pitches for static caravans.

A spokesperson for the Donelan Trading Company who submitted the plans for the site said: “The Punch Bowl Inn has had a chequered past over the last ten years. It has been a public house, an Indian restaurant and a public house again, but it has now been empty for some four years.

“As this site is located in the Ribble Vally, close to various areas of countryside used for leisure pursuits, a demand for short-term holiday accommodation and weekend holiday lodge accommodation has been identified."

Developers also said the holiday park would 'encourage leisure visits to the area, compliment existing businesses in Hurst green and provide some sort of income for businesses in the wider area.'