A FORMER pub which has been empty for 14 years could finally have a new lease of life as a set of one and two-bed flats.

The Yeoman, in Otley, closed in 2009, having first served thirsty locals during the reign of Queen Victoria.

Paper signs indicating the pub is “temporarily closed” have sat in two of the windows ever since. Other downstairs windows have been left boarded up.

Now, plans have been submitted to Leeds City Council requesting permission to turn the former venue, on Gay Lane, into seven apartments.

The site falls in Otley’s conservation area, but in documents attached to the proposals, the applicants said it would not have a “negative effect” on the surrounding buildings.

They also described the plans as a “positive development”.

The city council approved a previous scheme to convert the pub into three flats and two semi-detached houses in 2017. However, that never came to fruition.

A decision on the new application will be made in the coming months.

Ryk Downes, Liberal Democrat councillor for Otley, said: “We’d welcome the news that this important landmark building at the entrance of the centre of Otley could be brought back into use.

“It’s been vacant and unused for such a long time.

“On the face of it, it’s regrettable that it’s not going to be a pub again, because there are fewer and fewer pubs in Otley.

“But something needs doing to the building, because it has been many years now.”