PLANS to convert the Cross Keys pub, Skipton, into offices have been submitted to Craven District Council.

Businessman Peter Watson hopes to secure permission to change the use of the listed pub, which has been closed and boarded up for some time, and make alterations so it can be used for office, financial or professional services.

There was an unsuccessful attempt to sell the Otley Road pub some years ago, and in 2018, permission for its conversion into a restaurant was approved, but never carried out.

A design statement to the council’s planning department, states that the pub, which is opposite Peter Watson’s family run car business, is currently in a poor state, is detracting from the conservation area and in need of ‘significant investment to restore the building and bring it back into beneficial use.’

The statement adds: “ This new use for the building will create opportunity for new employment space close to Skipton town centre within a site that benefits from its own on site parking, therefore contributing to Craven District Council’s goals of increasing employment opportunities and office space within the district.”

It adds if conversion to offices takes places, hours of operation will be much shorter than its previous use, and so will be of benefit to neighbours and the surrounding area.