Permission has been given for four shepherd’s huts to be used as holiday lets near a Herefordshire village.

The four, each with 15 square metres of floorspace, would be in a quarter-hectare field north of Yarpole at Red Oak Barn, given as the address of the applicant, John Fisher.

The huts’ wooden cladding will be painted smoky green while their metal roofs will be charcoal grey.

The planning officer concluded that the huts would not spoil any neighbours’ views, nor would they place an added burden on roads – even though the site “is not considered to be in a sustainable location”.

A condition of the approval is that the huts must house no more than eight people in total at a time, with records of this to be kept, in order to limit the amount of foul water produced.

Habitat features “to support a range of bird species, bat roosting features and hedgehog homes” must also be installed at the site.

The number of camping and caravanning trips in the UK increased by 71 last year to over 16 million, according to market research firm Mintel.

We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.

Please report any comments that break our rules.

This website and associated newspapers adhere to the Independent Press Standards Organisation's Editors' Code of Practice. If you have a complaint about the editorial content which relates to inaccuracy or intrusion, then please contact the editor here. If you are dissatisfied with the response provided you can contact IPSO here

© 2001-2022. This site is part of Newsquest's audited local newspaper network. A Gannett Company. Newsquest Media Group Ltd, Loudwater Mill, Station Road, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. HP10 9TY. Registered in England & Wales | 01676637 |

Data returned from the Piano 'meterActive/meterExpired' callback event.

As a subscriber, you are shown 80% less display advertising when reading our articles.

Those ads you do see are predominantly from local businesses promoting local services.

These adverts enable local businesses to get in front of their target audience – the local community.

It is important that we continue to promote these adverts as our local businesses need as much support as possible during these challenging times.