A Herefordshire smallholder has lost her bid to keep using a rural cabin as a holiday let, despite it having gained praise from guests.

Herefordshire Council served an enforcement notice on Fiona Yates of Prospect Poultry, Bosbury north of Ledbury in February, requiring the cabin, which did not have planning permission for residential use, to be vacated within 30 days and to be removed altogether within six months.

Ms Yates was first given a month to appeal against the notice to the government’s Planning Inspectorate.

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This she did, claiming that the cabin, in a field three miles from the main farm, had been in place for more than ten years so was immune from enforcement, and the that the planning breach could be remedied simply by restricting it to agricultural use.

Submitting 36 documents and images to the appeal, Ms Yates also claimed to have lived in the converted cabin herself between 2018 and 2022 following its conversion – long enough for this use to also become immune from enforcement – while letting out her main residence.

But planning inspector SA Hanson found “a lack of clarity and limited corroborative evidence” such as official documents to support this, and considered that her use of the cabin was “intermittent and most likely for occasional overnight stays more akin to camping out”.

Use of the building as holiday accommodation from early 2022 could more readily be established, the inspector said – but this was for too short a time for its residential use to have become immune from enforcement.

By contrast its presence on the land had “achieved immunity”, and could not be subject to enforcement, they ruled.

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So while upholding the council’s enforcement notice, the inspector changed its second requirement from “remove the building” to “remove from the building the bed/sofa, shower and fitted kitchen units including the fridge/freezer and cooker”.

Known as The Prospect, the property is still listed online as offering self-catering breaks for two guests, though it is not taking bookings.

It received 17 reviews on booking.com between February and July last year, aggregated to a “superb” rating of 9.4.