A former garden centre owner is turning the closure of his business into a positive move for the community by building homes for local families.

Andrew Lewington said he realised his dream when, having worked for a corporate firm for 26 years, he took over Keswick Garden Centre at Underskiddaw.

But, with the business proving unviable, he and wife Pauline pulled the plug five years ago, leaving them with an empty site and no success from their attempts to sell it.

Their initial thoughts were to develop more holiday lets on the site, he said, but after Lake District National Park Authority planners raised the issue of the lack of affordable housing local, the couple changed their minds.

They have spent the last year drawing up plans to develop build 11 new homes on the site and convert an existing holiday let into a residential property, and now the proposal has been given the green light.

Mr Lewington said: "A lot of people work in this area and can't afford to live here.

"I have got three kids, two of them now of working age, who have been brought up locally in Keswick. The reality of where they are is that they're highly unlikely to be able to afford to buy houses in this area.

"It's very rare for a brownfield site in the national park to become available."

The lack of affordable homes in the Keswick area has been a concern for many years, with Keswick Community Housing Trust set up to help increase the supply of homes and prevent local young people being forced to move away from their home town to buy a property.

Mr Lewington said one of the things that prompted him and his wife to build homes on the site was hearing that only six similar houses had become available in a two year period and had attracted more than 90 applicants.

Six of the new homes on the site will be designated affordable homes and managed by a housing association. The remainder will have a local occupancy clause attached to them, meaning they can only be bought by people who live or work in the immediate area, which will help keep their prices lower than open-market houses.

Mr Lewington added that he planned to use local firms to do the building work and supply the materials, estimating that it would pump around £1.8 million into the local economy.

The application attracted 15 letters of objection raising concerns including road safety, lack of local amenities, and its impact on views from existing properties.

The Friends of the Lake District raised concerns about the sustainability of the project, and Underskiddaw Parish Council raised objections.

But there was also support from two neighbours who welcomed the move to bring more young families to the village.

The plans were approved by the national park authority's planning committee last week.