A private school in Malvern has been given permission to convert a boarding house into a family home.

Batsford House in Avenue Road has been used by Malvern St James School as a dormitory building in recent years and school offices before that.

Plans were submitted to the district council to turn the building back into a private residence - and now have the backing of planning officers, despite objections from neighbours.

Planning documents state: “The proposal has been designed to minimise changes to the building as existing, with the extension previously approved and permission remaining extant.

“No other external works are proposed to enable the change of use, internally there will be modifications to remove the bespoke internal fitout facilitating the current use as a school dormitory though these works do not form part of the planning application.

“No works are proposed to the existing outbuildings under this application and there will be no changes to the access arrangements.”

A number of neighbours raised concerns that Batsford House could be rented out as an Airbnb property.

Sue Wright added: “The presence of children in the area for educational purposes gives an added incentive for preserving the status quo.”

According to a heritage statement included in the application, Batsford House is a Victorian Tudor Gothic building built for Henry Templeman Speer and Frances Selwyn Morris of Cheltenham, in around 1870.

A previous application for an extension to provide accommodation for a deputy housemistress had been approved. The suggestion is that this extension will still be built but will now be used instead as a kitchen.

Approving the plans, officers said: “The local area has many residential properties and accordingly, its proposed change of use back to a dwelling is not considered an incongruous given the character of the local area and would not be considered detrimental to that aforementioned character.

“The objections received relative to this intention are noted and have been considered within the report above. The primary basis of those concerns is relative to amenity. Those concerns are understood.”