AN appeal has been lodged after civic chiefs rejected plans to turn a bakery into a pair of one-bedroom flats.

The applicant, APE Properties Ltd, is hoping a government-appointed planning inspector will quash a decision taken by New Forest District Council.

The appeal relates to a two-storey, semi-detached property at Hampton Lane, Blackfield.

Objectors to the original application included Fawley Parish Council, which said the scheme would result in the loss of a retail asset that provided jobs.

A protest was also lodged by the building's occupant, The Blackfield Baker Ltd.

Its letter to the district council said: "We are a popular village bakery and bakery shop which serves the local community, local businesses and further afield."

But APE Properties has challenged the authority's decision to reject the application.

It says: "On the opposite side of Hampton Lane are two convenience stores which both provide for the everyday shopping needs of the local community, including the provision of bakery products."