Richard Booth’s application for the building, which is located in the conservation area of the Scarborough town centre, had also included the addition of a new shop front at the site.

But following an amendment to the application, the external changes were withdrawn and the property will retain its original timber shop front

Bar Street has a “characterful mix” of shops, cafes, and commercial units offering services including hairdressing and tailoring.

However, eight letters of objection were sent to North Yorkshire Council raising concerns about an “over-saturation” of beauty salons in the area.

One letter of objection stated: “There are a sufficient number of beauty salons in the town centre.”

Another resident said: “The retention of an independent retail unit would be more beneficial to the street and provide wider footfall to the surrounding businesses.”

No objections were raised by the Highway Authority or North Yorkshire Council’s environmental health team.

Planning officers said that “given the range of businesses operating out of the traditional Victorian shop frontages”, they felt that it would be “inappropriate to withhold consent for the proposed change of use”.

A report by the planning authority states: “The proposed beauty salon is not felt to unacceptably over-saturate the market for beauty services on Bar Street.

“Bar Street serves as a secondary shopping street off the main high street, thus, a wider range of uses beyond retail is considered appropriate.”

Officers also concluded that the beauty salon would not result in “a materially harmful increase in ‘comings and goings’ to the site”, and would not differ from the footfall generated by other similar businesses along the street.

The conversion was approved subject to conditions by North Yorkshire Council on Thursday, October 19.

Gift shop in conservation area of Scarborough centre will become beauty parlour despite objections