A man in Buckinghamshire cannot turn a shop into a home due to the ‘loss’ it would cause to the high street, planners have said.

Mr Jeremy Harmsworth had asked Buckinghamshire Council for permission to change the use of the women’s clothing shop at ‘The Pears’, 2 Church Street in Great Missenden to residential use.

The applicant’s plans state that he would ‘like to retire’ from running the shop and leave the village but that he is struggling to sell the property.

People are reportedly put off buying the Grade II listed building because the shop on the ground floor is considered to be part of the same property as the residential accommodation above.

However, the council rejected his request to officially change the use of the shop, saying that Mr Harmsworth had not provided enough evidence that it was ‘unviable or that it is undesirable as a stand-alone unit, separate from the wider residential dwelling’.

Planning officers told him that his proposals would result in a ‘loss to the vitality’ of the conservation area, which which would have a ‘negative impact’ on its character and appearance.

They wrote: “Change of uses from commercial to residential are having a deadening effect on the street scene and are further isolating remaining commercial units in the town centre.”

Great Missenden Parish Council said: “The change to residential use represents the loss of another shop on Great Missenden High Street.”