The Traveller's Rest, Long Riston: Property developer ordered to rebuild 200-year-old Yorkshire pub after demolition says it is now in 'better condition'

However locals query the modifications made - claiming a downstairs toilet “would have to be used kneeling down” and a “miniscule” cellar had been provided.

Wayne Low shocked residents of Long Riston, near Beverley, when he bulldozed the 200-year-old The Traveller’s Rest, between 2019 and 2020, around three years after it had stopped trading.

A single-storey wing was left standing, which Mr Low, of Leconfield, who was issued with an enforcement notice by East Riding Council, turned into a small bar called the Micro Pig. Low appealed and an inspector said while the pub had to be rebuilt he didn't have to install signage or replicate the pub's original internal layout.

In October 2021 he was fined £32,000 after East Riding Council took him to court for the illegal demolition. Plans to build housing on the site were rejected, but he was adamant the pub would not re-open as licensed premises.

By the summer of 2022, Mr Low had completed the rebuild and applied for a certificate of lawful development from East Riding Council, seeking their approval for the work – but this was refused.

Mr Low appealed but the inspector found fault with a two-storey rear extension, rather than the original single storey, and other issues such as only one toilet and no cellar. The inspector decided that the way garden fence was set out suggested the building “is apparently designed to be two separate dwellinghouses, each with a separate internal staircase".

Now Mr Low has submitted a certificate of lawful development stating the modifications meets the inspector’s requirements. They include removing the second-storey extension, adding two toilets, installing a bar and a beer celler in the ground floor kitchen.

Planning documents claim the changes meet the key points and conclude: "The pub is in a better condition than before the demolition took place at which point it has been unused and suffered from a lack of maintenance for several years. So, the value of the community asset has been enhanced."

The latest move has split opinion, with some arguing that the village now has a successful microbar and locals need housing over a second pub. One local pleaded for the issue to be put to bed and allow the village to "move on". Others believe the latest modifications still don't comply - including the provision of a "miniscule" cellar. One objector said a toilet under the internal staircase "would require anybody using it to kneel down due to the landing above”. It is also been queried why a door has been provided from the first floor landing onto a flat roof.

Mr Low declined to comment as did East Riding Council.