A former pub-turned-restaurant occupying a prime spot on an A-road could be converted into a vets under new plans.

The owners of Rainbow Chinese in Westwell Leacon, near Charing, hope to turn the long-empty building into The Olive Tree Veterinary Surgery.

Before becoming a restaurant, the site off A20 Ashford Road operated as the Olive Branch pub until the 1990s.

Now plans submitted to Ashford Borough Council (ABC) show how the ground floor will be reconfigured to include three consulting rooms if the proposals are green-lit.

The scheme also includes two operating theatres, a preparation room, a dispensary X-ray room and a dental care facility.

The first floor, which is currently a home, would house the administration office as well as a staff restroom and sleeping accommodation for an overnight duty vet when required.

It also includes a small extension at the back of the building which would become a dog isolation kennel.

It would be built on the site of a previously demolished outbuilding which was described as being in a “dilapidated condition”.

The existing car park would stay as it is but two new staff parking spaces would be created in front of the building.

Once open, the surgery would create three full-time jobs and one part-time job.

The latest proposals - submitted by Robert and Lindsay Lawrence - come as plans to extend the building and convert it into four flats were refused by ABC in 2020.

The scheme included a small courtyard area and four parking spaces.

At the time, Charing Parish Council objected to the conversion as councillors felt the garden was too small and there was no provision for electric vehicles.

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It also felt the loss of a business for homes would have gone against its Neighbourhood Plan.

Stating its decision to refuse, ABC said there were “no overriding justifications or need for the dwellings”.

Before this, another proposal to turn the restaurant into a detached house was approved but this never came forward.

A decision on the vets application will be made by planning officers at ABC.