A former landlord who turned his pub into a family home is being told by the council to convert it back.

Robert Easton-Park, who ran the Tally Ho pub for more than 20 years, gave up the premises licence two years ago and converted it into a house for himself and his two grown-up children.

But a retrospective planning application for change of use has been refused by council planners on the grounds it is a loss of a community facility.

They say its current use therefore remains as a pub - not a house.

Mr Easton-Park says he has owned the property for 25 years, but it was getting too expensive to run as a pub due to spiralling costs for Sky and BT sports channels.

Mr Easton-Park, who says he was the city’s longest serving pub landlord, added: “My kids were raised there, they went to school nearby.

“I’m not a developer selling it off to try to make money. It’s my home.”

The Clyde Street pub, which is surrounded by residential properties, was popular with locals and had its own a darts team.

But in July 2017, police called for a review of the licence due to concerns with the prevention of crime and disorder and public safety.

Mr Easton-Park surrendered the licence before its possible revocation could be discussed and converted the property into a house.

He says he brought his children up there and simply wanted to create a home for them all.

Canterbury city council spokesman Rob Davies said: “An application was submitted retrospectively, but was refused on the grounds of the loss of a community facility.

“Therefore, its current planning use remains as a pub, not as a residential property.

“The owner’s options now are either to appeal this decision to the independent Planning Inspectorate, or submit a new planning application demonstrating that other community uses are not viable at this site.

“To do this, the applicant would generally be expected to market the property to establish whether there is any interest.”

Read more: All the latest news from Canterbury