ONE of Skipton's long-serving corner shops could be lost to the community if plans go ahead to turn it into a house.

Devonshire Stores was built as a shop on the corner of Devonshire Street and Brougham Street in the early 1900s, but is no longer economically viable and would not sell as a going concern, said owner Karen Nkwo. She added that it was turning over barely enough money to cover even one wage.

Competition from internet shopping and supermarkets have added to the decline of the corner shop. Mrs Nkwo says she could even buy some goods cheaper from a supermarket than she could get from the cash and carry.

If the plans are passed the conversion would create a bigger home for the Nkwo family. The alterations would not be done immediately and Mrs Nkwo hopes to continue selling plants outside the shop this summer - a product for which the business has become particularly well known.

She said even if she did manage to sell the shop as a going concern her family would not be able to afford a home the same size elsewhere in the town.

"It is not what we planned and not what we wanted to do, but you can't foresee the future," said Mrs Nkwo, who has run the store for 18 months.

Her husband Jonathan has been helping out in the shop in the evenings after finishing his own day at work, but he recently became ill, leaving his wife to try to cope alone.

The application to change the use of the property and to do the conversion work was discussed by Skipton town planners on Monday.

The plans include making the current shop a lounge area and blocking up the access door. They hope to demolish existing outbuildings and replace them with a new kitchen and utility room with an exterior door, and put up a new boundary wall and railings.

Coun Betty Campbell said the alterations alone were quite acceptable, but the problem was whether to agree to the change of use.

She said one of Craven District Council's policies was to retain existing services unless it could be clearly demonstrated that they were no longer required and only permit the changes if extensive efforts had been made to promote the business for sale.

Coun Chris Harbron said it would be a "massive shame" if the shop closed

Coun Audrey Thornton added: "It would be a great loss to a lot of older people round there."

The planning committee objected to the change of use.