Eighty two new homes will be built behind a busy service station near Frome after plans were approved by the district council.

David Wilson Homes applied for permission in January to build the homes north of the Nunney Catch services in Nunney, just off a busy roundabout on the A361.

Councillors previously turned down plans for up to 105 homes on the site, arguing this amounted to over-development and would overwhelm local services.

But Mendip District Council has now given the green light to this newer, smaller development, which will provide much-needed affordable homes in the village.

The homes will be sandwiched between the services and the existing residential areas of Glebelands and Pookfield Close, with a new access being built onto Green Pits Lane near the Nunney Catch roundabout.

Of the 82 homes, 30 per cent will be affordable – the equivalent of 25 dwellings, with the majority of these being social rent.

But members of the council's planning board were much more agreeable to the revised proposals when it met virtually on Wednesday evening (July 22).

Councillor Francis Hayden – who represents Cranmore, Doulting and Nunney – said Nunney Parish Council had identified this site for up to 50 homes in its neighbourhood plan, in order to deliver around 12 affordable homes.

He said: "We put the owners, the Diocese of Bath and Wells, in touch with Barratt Homes to get something together and come up with a plan.

"Unfortunately they came up with a plan for 105 houses, which was way beyond what we expected or wanted, and that plan was turned down."

The Barratt Homes plans were refused in 2014 and then dismissed on appeal in 2015, with the council arguing it amounted to over-development in light of limited local services.

Mr Hayden continued: "David Wilson Homes has come back with this much better plan and a much better approach, it has to said, to getting agreement from the people of the village.

"It's not ideal in many ways – in particular, the access faces the wrong way. But Glebelands and the other roads of that estate to the north are not capable of taking more traffic.

"I think the village has now accepted that this development is going to go ahead, and it's much better than the previous one."

As part of the scheme, the developer will provide the parish council with £20,000 to spend on traffic calming measures in the village and new signs to improve road safety.

A further £14,000 will be set aside in legal agreements to provide funding for local NHS services, including doctors' surgeries in the local area.

Councillor Nigel Hewitt-Cooper said the development had "a logical, well put together layout" with "a good mix of housing, design styles and colours".

Councillor Tom Killen added: "It's good to see improvements on design from what we normally see from big developers."

The board voted unanimously to approve the plans after just over half an hour's debate.