An Ottery St Mary veterinary clinic could be converted back into a home.

The owners of the 64 Mill Street, home to Otter Vets, have applied to East Devon District Council for permission to turn the property back into a house.

The application has been submitted by Simon Norton and says the current tenant is Otter Vets Ltd, which it says was an independent practice until April 2021, but is now owned by a company called IVC Evidentsia.

It comes after a previous application said the 'thriving' practice was looking to move to a new home in the town.

Permission for the change was previously granted in 2018, when the application said the practice was looking to move.

Writing then, the applicants said: "We purchased it in 1997 and successfully applied for permission for change of use to a veterinary clinic.

"This enabled us, under the auspices of the veterinary practice for whom we worked, and to whom we leased the premises, to provide a full-time veterinary service in the town.

"We have since retired from veterinary work but the practice continues to thrive and has recently decided that it needs to move to different premises within the town to cope with the current workload.

"We therefore require permission for change of use back to a dwelling house," it added.

The fresh application says the property had remained largely unchanged while being used as a practice, and would remain so.

"There has been no change to the structure or overall appearance of the property since the previous application in 2018," it said.

"The design is still essentially that of a three-bedroomed house, as it was originally, and this will remain unchanged.

"Access will also remain unchanged."

As well as the practice in Ottery, the vet also has a premises in Chandlers' Lane, Sidmouth.

Council planners will now consider the application for the building in Ottery.

For more details, and to comment on the plan, log on to www.eastdevon.gov.uk/planning, and search for application reference 22/0144/FUL.