New homes have been agreed at a former Dorset pub after previous proposals were rejected.
The pub, at times frequented by army officers and later by a motorcycle gang, has stood empty on the A354 road between Blandford and Sixpenny Handley for five years.
It has been known as both The Inn on the Chase and the Cashmoor Inn and sits within the Cranborne Chase National Landscape area.
Parish councillors insisted, despite years of losses, that the pub could again be viable and had opposed changes to convert it to housing, but with the recent application only raised concerns about safe access to and from the site on the 50mph section of road close to a crossroads.
Now Dorset Council has agreed the conversion of the pub to four homes, with another two built on the site.
Documents produced to Dorset Council by estate agents showed that there were only three viewings of the property in two years, with no offers made.
The agents said that with the building deteriorating throughout the period, it made re-opening as a pub less likely.
The pub has been on the market for £425,000 with separate staff accommodation, five letting rooms and almost an acre of land.
In January 2009 there was a fire at the Cashmoor Inn, which resulted in 30 people being safely evacuated and firefighters on the scene for more than four hours.
