An appeal has been made against a refusal to allow planning permission to convert a three bedroom house in Barkingside into a new nursery school.

The application, made by Fahmida Shah of Fareacres Pre-School and Day Nursery, wants permission for a change of use for 324 Horns Road, Barkingside, from a residential property, into a three-floor nursery that would accommodate up to 37 children.

Fareacres already own and run two other nurseries in Gants Hill and South Woodford.

The Horns Road property has been empty for the past two years and the applicants now want to extend the property by building a ground floor extension and smaller first floor extension.

According to the planning application, 800 extra pre-school child care places for two-year-olds are needed across Redbridge and a nursery would provide a vital community facility.

However, the council’s planning inspectors initially refused permission on the grounds it would not benefit the community to lose a house of that size and local residents would be disturbed by the noise and extra traffic.

A decision will be made in the coming months.